OVERVIEW

This approach was designed to supplement school-based tobacco-prevention programs with a community intervention in order to further impact on adolescent smoking behavior. An experimental study based on 16 rural communities indicates that the addition of a community intervention to the school-based program reduced the rate by which tobacco use typically increases between 7th- and 9th-grade.

DESCRIPTION OF PROGRAM

Target population: Communities with school-based tobacco-prevention programs.

This approach is designed to enhance a school-based tobacco-prevention program with the addition of several community components (Biglan, Ary, Smolkowski, Duncan, & Black, 2000). Community components included media advocacy to encourage adults in the community to support adolescent tobacco-prevention efforts, community youth anti-tobacco activities, activities to help parents to express disapproval of tobacco use to their children, and efforts to reduce tobacco access in the community.

EVALUATION(S) OF PROGRAM

Evaluated population: 16 small rural communities in Oregon with school-based tobacco-prevention programs. The study sample was nearly evenly split across genders, and was approximately 85% white, 8% Hispanic, 5% Native American, 1% African American, and 1% Asian.

An experimental trial was conducted among eight pairs of small rural communities in Oregon (Biglan, Ary, Smolkowski, Duncan, & Black, 2000). Supplementation of the school-based program with the community intervention dampened the upward trend in smoking prevalence-observed both in this study's control group and in the U.S. as a whole-over the course of five annual surveys of 7th- and 9th-graders in each community. In communities that received only the school-based intervention, the prevalence of weekly smoking among 7th- and 9th-graders increased by 6 percentage points, from 8% to 14%, from the first to the final annual survey. In contrast, communities that received the school and the community-based component saw only a 2 percentage-point increase, from 10% to 12%, over the same time period.

SOURCES FOR MORE INFORMATION

References:

Biglan, A., Ary, D.V., Smolkowski, K., Duncan, T., & Black, C. (2000). A randomised controlled trial of a community intervention to prevent adolescent tobacco use. Tobacco Control, 9, 24-32.

Program also discussed in the following Child Trends publication(s):

Hatcher, J. L., & Scarpa, J. (2002). Encouraging teens to adopt a safe, healthy lifestyle: A foundation for improving future adult behaviors (Research brief). Washington , DC : Child Trends.

Hatcher, J. L., & Scarpa, J. (2001). Background for community-level work on physical health and safety in adolescence: Reviewing the literature on contributing factors. Washington, DC: Child Trends.

SUMMARY & CATEGORIZATION

Program categorized in this guide according to the following:

Evaluated participant ages: School-age children and adolescents / Program age ranges in the Guide: 6-11, 12-14

Program components: School-based, Parent/family, Community/media

Measured outcomes: Behavioral problems

Program information last updated 12/31/01.

© Child Trends 2003