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Sharon A. Denham, RN, DSN, Michael G. Meyer, Mary A. Toborg, MPA, and Tony Long, BS. Toborg Associates, Inc., 1129 Twentieth Street, N.W., Suite 108, Washington, DC 20036-3403, 202-776-0112, sdenham@toborg.net
Youth in tobacco-growing communities start tobacco use at a younger age and use it more frequently than youth who live in communities that do not grow tobacco. Adolescent tobacco users face heightened risks to their health. Efforts to assist the attempts at cessation by adolescent tobacco users in tobacco-growing areas must reflect the cultural, social, and economic significance of the crop within their communities. An exploratory study of the implications of such issues for cessation in youth from these communities included six focus groups of adolescents and 20 key informant interviews. Adolescent participants were 43 females aged 12 to 14. Key informants were cessation professionals who worked with youth from tobacco-growing communities. The research was conducted in 17 tobacco-growing counties in Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia, North Carolina, and Kentucky. Key findings from focus groups included the community influences on youth tobacco use; the relationship of parental smoking to smoking by their children; positive and negative affects of family on cessation attempts by youth; parental encouragement and discouragement to youth to use tobacco; and concern for the effect of secondhand smoke on younger siblings as a protective factor against youth smoking. Barriers identified by key informants included community norms around tobacco use, family use of tobacco, school practices and policies, peer influences, youth attitudes, and logistical difficulties with cessation program efforts. Youth in tobacco-growing regions share circumstances with youth in other parts of the nation, but they also face unique problems that require redress through specially crafted cessation techniques.
Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, participants in this session will be able to
Keywords: Tobacco, Adolescent Health
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.