Prevention of Cigarette Smoking: Three-year Follow-up of an Education Program for Youth
Document Type
Article
Department
Community and Global Health (CGU)
Publication Date
3-1983
Disciplines
Educational Methods | Public Health Education and Promotion | Social Psychology and Interaction | Substance Abuse and Addiction
Abstract
We reported previously on the success of an innovative approach to cigarette smoking prevention in seventh-grade students. The present report describes a 3-year follow-up of three schools and 1081 sutdents initially involved in the research program. The curriculum emphasizes the shortterm influences which affect smoking in youth, particularly social and peer influences. In the school which received this curriculum from likeaged peer leaders, the incidence of smoking remained low compared to that in a control school. Those who did smoke in this school consumed significantly fewer cigarettes. In the school where the curriculum was adult taught, smoking rates were initially lower but rose in the later years, ultimately differing little from those in the control school. Reported smoking behavior was confirmed by saliva ihiocyanate measurement in all students. Cigarette smoking behavior appears significantly inhibited by a peer-taught curriculum and that effect is retained for several years after the education program.
Rights Information
© 1983 Plenum Publishing Corporation
DOI
10.1007/BF00845276
Recommended Citation
Luepker, R.V., Johnson, C.A., Murray, D.M., & Pechacek, T.F. Prevention of cigarette smoking: Three-year follow-up of an educational program for youth. J Behav Med 6(1), 53-62, 1983.
