Exposure to school and community based prevention programs and reductions in cigarette smoking among adolescents in the United States, 2000–08

Abstract

Smoking remains prevalent among U.S. youth despite decades of antismoking efforts. Effects from exposure to prevention programs at national level may provide informative and compelling data supporting better planning and strategy for tobacco control. A national representative sample of youth 12–17 years of age from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health was analyzed. A 3-stage model was devised to estimate smoking behavior transitions using cross-sectional data and the Probabilistic Discrete Event System method. Cigarette smoking measures (prevalence rates and odds ratios) were compared between exposed and non-exposed youth. More than 95% of the sample was exposed to prevention programs. Exposure was negatively associated with lifetime smoking and past 30-day smoking with a dose-response relation. Reduction in smoking was related to increased quitting in 2000–02, to increased quitting and declined initiation in 2003–05, and to initiation, quitting and relapse in 2005–08. Findings of this analysis suggest that intervention programs in the United States can reduce cigarette smoking among youth. Quitting smoking was most responsive to program exposure and relapse was most sensitive to funding cuts since 2003. Health policy and decision makers should consider these factors in planning and revising tobacco control strategies.

Receipt of Sexual Health Information From Parents, Teachers, and Healthcare Providers by Sexually Experienced U.S. Adolescents

“…Reliable sexual health resources are widely available, and strategies to improve the delivery of SHI might be adapted from other successful health prevention efforts that engage multiple constituents. For example, exposure to preventive education in both school and community settings has been found to be associated with decreased cigarette use among adolescents [30]. Enhanced efforts to improve sexual health information delivery to sexually experienced youth also need to address unique barriers to both adult-delivery and adolescent-receipt of SHI, such as improving adult-youth communication [10] and improving literacy around sexually explicit media [31].…”

Smoking Initiation Associated With Specific Periods in the Life Course From Birth to Young Adulthood: Data From the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997

“…1,2 More effective prevention requires further understanding of tobacco use etiology. Numerous researchers have documented the timing and risk of early onset of tobacco use.…”

Estimating the transitional probabilities of smoking stages with cross-sectional data and 10-year projection for smoking behavior in Iranian adolescents

“…[20] The 1-year incidence of becoming a cigarette smoker among nonsmoker adolescents in our study was high (3.5%). The increasing trend of smoking in adolescents is worrying because individuals’ behavior and lifestyle are significantly formed during adolescence.…”