Community college students represent 44% of all students enrolled in U.S. higher education facilities. To our knowledge, no previous smoking cessation intervention has targeted community college students. Previous studies suggest that a motivational smoking cessation intervention could be successful for young adult smokers. Combining motivational interviewing sessions with personalized health feedback is likely to increase participants' motivation to quit and movement through the stages of change. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of a smoking cessation program based on these premises. We designed a computer-assisted, counselor-delivered smoking cessation program that addresses personal health risks and readiness to change smoking behavior among community college students. A group-randomized, controlled trial was used to assess the intervention in a sample of 426 students (58.5% females; mean age, 22.8 ± 4.7 years) from 15 pair-matched campuses. At the 10-month follow-up assessment, the cotinine-validated smoking cessation rates were 16.6% in the experimental condition and 10.1% in the standard care condition (p = 0.07). Our results indicate that our computer-assisted intervention holds considerable promise in reducing smoking among community college students.

Few studies have examined the long-term efficacy of computer-based smoking prevention and cessation programs. We analyzed the long-term impact of A Smoking Prevention Interactive Experience (ASPIRE), a theoretically sound computer-based smoking prevention and cessation curriculum for high school students. Sixteen predominantly minority, inner-city high schools were randomly assigned to receive the ASPIRE curriculum or standard care (receipt of the National Cancer Institute's Clearing the Air self-help booklet). A total of 1160 students, 1098 of whom were nonsmokers and 62 smokers at baseline, were included. At 18-month follow-up, among baseline nonsmokers, smoking initiation rates were significantly lower in the ASPIRE condition (1.9% vs. 5.8%, p < .05). Students receiving ASPIRE also demonstrated significantly higher decisional balance against smoking and decreased temptations to smoke. Differences between groups in self-efficacy and resistance skills were not significant. There was a nonsignificant trend toward improved smoking cessation with ASPIRE, but low recruitment of smokers precluded conclusions with respect to cessation. ASPIRE demonstrated the potential for an interactive multimedia program to promote smoking prevention. Further studies are required to determine ASPIRE's effects on cessation.

Tobacco dependence, responsible for approximately 4 million annual deaths worldwide, is considered to be a "pediatric disease." The smoking epidemic is spreading rapidly in developing countries. Factors contributing to youth smoking in developing countries include cultural traditions, tobacco's easy accessibility and moderate pricing, peer and family influences, and tobacco companies' advertisements and promotional activities. Secondhand tobacco smoke exposure is a substantial problem that causes increased rates of pneumonia, otitis media, asthma, and other short- and long-term pediatric conditions. Parental tobacco use results in children's deprivation of essential needs such as nutrition and education. In this article we review contemporary evidence with respect to the etiology of nicotine dependence among youth, the forms of youth tobacco products worldwide, global youth tobacco-control efforts to date, medical education efforts, and child health care clinicians' special role in youth tobacco-control strategies. In addition, we provide a review of currently available funding opportunities for development and implementation of youth tobacco-control programs.

Background Health professionals have a proven, positive impact on patients’ ability to quit smoking, yet few integrate cessation counseling into routine practice.The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of continuing education training on physicians’ and pharmacists’ cessation counseling. Methods A group-randomized trial of health care providers (87 physicians and 83 pharmacists) from 16 Texas communities compared smoking cessation training (intervention group) with skin cancer prevention training (control group). Pretraining, posttraining, and extended follow-up surveys were collected from providers. Perceived ability, confidence, and intention (ACI) to address smoking with patients were assessed with a composite ACI index. Patient exit interviews (at baseline, 1452 patients completed interviews; after 12 months, 1303 completed interviews) assessed counseling practices. Results There was a significant increase in the percentage of physicians with a high ACI index in the intervention group from pretraining to posttraining (27% to 73%; P <.001) vs the control group (27% to 34%; P=.42) and for pharmacists (4% to 60%; P <.001) vs the control group (10% to 14%; P=.99). Similar results were seen from pretraining to extended follow-up. At baseline, fewer pharmacy patients reported being asked about smoking compared with patients seen by physicians (7% vs 33%; P=.001). There was an increase in assisting patients to quit (6% to 36%; P=.002) by physicians (baseline vs 12 months) in the intervention group, but not in the control group. Conclusions Training led to significant and lasting improvement in counseling among physicians. Low levels of counseling were seen among pharmacists.

Objective. To determine if exposure to an intervention course impacts pharmacy students' mental health stigma (MHS) and mental health knowledge (MHK). Methods. A one-group pre/posttest intervention study of third-year pharmacy students (N5120) was conducted. Dependent variables were subdomains of MHS (recovery, safety, disclosure, separation, comfort) which were measured on a 5-point Likert scale (15strongly disagree; 55strongly agree). Mental health knowledge was measured with 10 true/false questions. The 2.5-hour intervention included presentations, videos, discussions, and active-learning exercises. Pre/posttests were administered, and data were analyzed using paired t tests and McNemar's tests. Results. Among responding students (n588; 73.3% response rate), the following stigma subdomains significantly decreased after the intervention for depression and schizophrenia: recovery, safety, separation, and comfort. Mental health knowledge scores significantly increased from 5.9 (1.5) to 6.8 (1.5). Conclusion. Pharmacy students' MHS and MHK related to depression and schizophrenia can be improved through a brief and interactive anti-stigma intervention.