Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #108114

Kerada Krainuwat, MS, School of Nursing, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 600 Highland Ave., Madison, WI 53792, 608-263-5169, Krainuwat@wisc.edu

Cigarette smoking in youth is a crucial public health issue associated with diseases, disability, and premature death. It is a health risk behavior that generates substantial negative consequences on youth's health both in the short and long term. A number of studies have documented that the average age of cigarette smoking initiation is 12.3 years. Given the early onset of smoking behavior and the impact of smoking on health, preventing youth smoking initiation has emerged as a public health priority. Healthy People 2010 set, as major objectives, to accomplish the reduction in youth smoking initiation by one-third and to increase the average age of smoking onset from 12 years to 14 years. Smoking prevention interventions should target individual, family, and community levels. The focus of this paper is the family. The SFP, Strengthening Families Program (10-14) is a Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration model program that is theory and science based. In previous research, it has been demonstrated to delay the initiation of drug use. The purpose of this study is to compare smoking intention and behavior among youth who participated in the SFP 10-14 with youth who did not participate. Public schools in two midwestern cities were randomly were assigned to intervention or comparison conditions. Youth-adult dyads from the intervention schools were invited to participate in the SFP 10-14 and evaluation interviews while youth-adult dyads from comparison schools were invited to participate in the evaluation interviews only. The SPSS-PC version 12 will be used for data analysis. Analysis of variance and covariance will be used to determine the differences in smoking intention and behavior between the intervention (n = 77 dyads) and comparison groups (n = 54 dyads). Logistic regression will be used to predict and explain the variables, such as parenting skills, gender, and ethnicity, that affect smoking initiation among youth. If the hypothesis, participation in the SFP 10-14 reduces youth intention to smoke and delays the onset of smoking behavior, is supported I will propose the SFP 10-14 as an evidence-based population-focused intervention to build family capacity to reduce smoking initiation intention and behavior.

Learning Objectives:

• Describe family strengthening strategies pertinent to youth smoking prevention,
• Analyze the outcomes of family strengthening strategies to reduce smoking intentions and behaviors among youth.

Keywords: Children and Adolescents, Smoking

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.

Recorded presentation