 |
The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
|
The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
Cam T Escoffery, MPH, Laura K. McCormick, DrPH, and Kathe Childress, BA. Health Promotion and Behavior, University of Georgia, 300 River Road, Athens, GA 30602-6522, 706-542-5080, cescoffe@arches.uga.edu
The number of students smoking on college campuses is increasing nationwide. Few web-based interventions addressing smoking cessation among 18 to 24year-olds have been implemented and evaluated. This study assesses the feasibility of a web-based smoking cessation program for college students on quitting outcomes, stage movement, self-efficacy and attitudes toward smoking. A randomized controlled trial with a pretest posttest control group design was conducted. Seventy undergraduate smokers from a southeast university aged 18 and older who are not on nicotine replacement therapy were recruited for the Kick It! Internet delivered cessation intervention. Half were assigned to intervention and control groups. The intervention employed the Transtheoretical Model of Change and Theory of social support as strategies for motivating cessation. The intervention group received stage-matched messages, interactive personalized assessment, ask-the-expert questions, and opportunities to share about their smoking through discussion boards or personal story areas. The control group received generic information on smoking as web pages. The intervention happened over four, two-week sessions. No significance differences in not smoking in the last 24 hours and stage movement were found, although the intervention students reported higher mean self-efficacy in not smoking in certain situations. The stage-matched intervention was rated as personally relevant, informative, and easier to perform than other methods of education. Future research on how interactive, web-based health information can be employed in changing behavioral determinants will be discussed.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Tobacco, College Students
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.