The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA

Abstract #47047

Debra J. Holden, PhD, Kristin Y. Thomas, BS, and Matthew C. Farrelly, PhD. Health, Social, and Economics Research, RTI International, 3040 Cornwallis Rd., P.O. Box 12194, Research Triangle Park, NC 027709-2194, 919/541-6491, debra@rti.org

This study uses data collected through the American Legacy Foundation’s Media Tracking Survey (LMTS) of youths during spring 2001 to examine the process of tobacco cessation among adolescents. This survey is the first nationally representative sample of youths, age 12-24 years, that contains detailed information about smoking cessation. For this analysis, youth who reported smoking at least 100 cigarettes in their lifetime (n=1457) were categorized as former (n=349) or current (n=1109) smokers. Of these, they were then categorized using the Transtheoretical Model (Stages of Changes) as proposed by Prochaska and DiClemente (1983). Items addressing cessation will be presented and explanation given about how the data were used to apply the Model to this sample of adolescents. The analysis includes current and former smoking youths who are divided into the five proposed stages of change; including, precontemplation (smokers who are not thinking about quitting); contemplation (smokers who are planning to quit in the next 6 months); preparation (smokers who are planning to quit within the next 30 days); action (former smokers who have not smoked a cigarette in 6 months or less); and maintenance (former smokers who have remained nonsmokers for more than 6 months). Lessons to be covered include interpretations of the findings presented to highlight the uses of this Model in understanding adolescent tobacco cessation and recommendations for future research needs in this area will be discussed.

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