Evidence-based tobacco cessation treatments are underused by young adult smokers.

Context Approximately 22% of U.S. young adults (aged 18–24 years) are smokers.1 Young adults typically display an interest in quitting,1,2 but it is unknown whether the evidence-based cessation programs designed for adults will be equally effective for young adults. Purpose This meta-analysis investigated the efficacy of smoking-cessation programs for this population. Evidence acquisition In 2009–2011, studies published between 2004 and 2008 that investigated smoking cessation were first found through the DHHS Clinical Practice Guidelines for Treating Tobacco Use and Dependence3 as well as a PubMed search (2009–2010) and were then subjected to a rigorous inclusion process. Authors were contacted to glean young adult raw data. Fourteen studies provided data that were coded for descriptive information and aggregated using the Comprehensive Meta-Analysis Version 2.04. Evidence synthesis Among young adults, any type of intervention was more effective in producing successful smoking cessation than the control. This was the case for intent-to-treat analyses as well as complete cases. When interventions were effective for the larger adult sample, they were also effective for the younger adult sample. Conclusions While young adults tend to underutilize evidence-based cessation treatments, the current meta-analysis showed that these treatments should be as effective for young adults as they are for the general adult population. Thus, it may be useful to focus on motivating young adults to seek cessation treatment to increase utilization.

There is considerable homogeneity among community-based tobacco cessation programs for youths. Programs are least prevalent in the types of communities for which national data show increases in youths' smoking prevalence.

Cigarette smoking is the leading cause of premature morbidity and mortality in the United States. The majority of children smoke their first cigarette in early adolescence, and many older teens have well-established dependence on nicotine. Efforts to promote and support smoking cessation among these youth smokers are critical. The available experimental studies of youth cessation interventions find that behavioral interventions increase the chances of youth smokers achieving successful cessation. Currently there is insufficient evidence for the effectiveness of pharmacological treatments with youth smokers. Many innovative studies have been compromised by challenges in recruiting sufficient numbers of youth, obtaining approval for waivers of parental consent, and high attrition in longitudinal studies. Key areas for future work include bridging the fields of adolescent development and treatment design, matching treatments to developmental trajectories of smoking behavior, better understanding treatment processes and treatment moderators, and building demand for evidence-based cessation treatments.

Two hundred fifty-nine preservice teachers at a medium-sized university in the Southwest participated in the current study. The participants were randomly assigned to a labeled condition, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, or nonlabeled condition, and were presented a vignette in one of three forms: a written case study, a video clip, or a written case study with a video clip. The vignette described an elementary school aged child displaying disruptive behavior, while the video portrayed a similar aged child exhibiting disruptive behavior in the classroom. Following the presentation of the vignette, participants made judgments about the child's social skills and attentional skills by completing an examiner-made rating scale. There was a significant main effect for the label condition on judgments of attention; participants in the labeled condition made significantly more negative judgment than did those in the nonlabeled condition. There were also significant main effects for the participants' high school location and vignette treatment.