Kentucky Adolescent Tobacco Prevention Project

An Evidence-Based Practice

This practice has been Archived and is no longer maintained.

Description

The Kentucky Adolescent Tobacco Prevention Project is a school-based curriculum for high-risk middle school students who live in tobacco-producing areas. The six-session program uses trained peer leaders to assist with skills training. Students learn

- How to recognize types of peer pressure
- Refusal skills
- Assertiveness skills
- How to recognize and counter advertising appeals

In the program, students pledge not to use tobacco, and they learn about the negative consequences of using tobacco, including immediate physical consequences. The program includes three booster sessions to reinforce earlier-taught concepts. The basic curriculum is delivered in seventh grade. Three booster sessions are delivered in eighth grade.

Goal / Mission

The goal of this program is to prevent tobacco use among middle school students who live in tobacco-producing areas.

Results / Accomplishments

The evaluation investigated the efficacy of a social-influences tobacco-prevention program in delaying adoption of tobacco use among adolescents residing in a high-tobacco-production area. The study involved a randomized community design with random allocation of entire schools to study conditions, along with a nested experimental design in which students within schools were followed over time to assess the effect of the intervention.

The study found that minimal intervention with a high-risk group achieved modest effects. Program effects were found for the prevalence of eighth-grade students who had smoked in the previous 7 days and in the previous 30 days (P < .05). No significant effects were found for 24-hour smoking or lifetime smoking. In ninth-grade students, significant effects were found for 24-hour, 7-day, and 30-day smoking (P < .01, .01, and .05, respectively).The intervention particularly affected those involved in raising tobacco. For instance, the differences between the treatment and control group for those involved in raising tobacco were 29 percent (30 days), 25 percent (7 days), and 30 percent (24 hours), while the differences between the treatment and control group for those not involved in tobacco raising were lower at 23 percent (30 days), 21 percent (7 days), and 23 percent (24 hours). However, the intervention did not appear to affect the use of smokeless tobacco by male students.

About this Promising Practice

Organization(s)
University of Kentucky College of Education
Primary Contact
Melody Noland, PhD, CHES
University of Kentucky
KHP Department
100 Seaton Building
Lexington, KY 40506-0219
859-257-5826
mnola01@pop.uky.edu
Topics
Health / Alcohol & Drug Use
Health / Adolescent Health
Organization(s)
University of Kentucky College of Education
Date of publication
1998
Geographic Type
Rural
Location
Lexington, KY
Target Audience
Children, Teens