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

Abstract #113691

Pamela A. Kulbok, RN, DNSc¹, Hyekyun Rhee, PhD, RN¹, Ivy Hinton, PhD¹, Nisha D. Botchwey, PhD², Viktor Bovbjerg, PhD³, and Nancy Anderson, PhD, RN⁴. (1) School of Nursing, University of Virginia, P.O. Box 800782, Charlottesville, VA 22908, 434-924-0128, pk6c@virginia.edu, (2) Department of Urban and Environmental Planning, University of Virginia, School of Architecture, Campbell Hall, P.O. Box 400122, Charlottesville, VA 22904-4122, (3) Health Evaluation Sciences, University of Virginia, P.O. Box 800782, Charlottesville, VA 22908, (4) School of Nursing, University of California, Los Angeles, Box 956917, Los Angeles, CA, CA 90095-6917

Tobacco use remains the leading cause of mortality in the US contributing to 440,000 deaths annually. Despite documented advances toward Healthy People 2010 objectives for reduced smoking, rates among adolescents remain high. The primary aim of this study was to elicit nonsmoking attitudes, beliefs, and norms of 16 or 17 year old adolescents. An exploratory participatory research design was used to identify protective factors associated with youth nonsmoking. Eight targeted focus groups with nonsmoking female or male, African American or Caucasian adolescents, who never tried smoking or who experimented with smoking but never progressed to occasional smoking (N=34; 4-6 participants per group) were conducted. Health behavior theories guided study questions including: Perception -- How would you describe a teenage girl/boy who always does not smoke? Protective factors -- What makes it easy for you to be a nonsmoker? Attitudes -- What are some good (or bad) things about being a nonsmoker? Social norms -- Who are the people who approve of you not smoking? Qualitative methods and community-based participatory strategies were used to explore nonsmoking attitudes, beliefs and norms. Females demonstrated more abstract thinking than males, overall themes that emerged from both genders and from African American and Caucasian youths were comparable. Participants opposed general statements about negative characteristics of adolescent nonsmokers, and instead viewed not smoking as a personal choice. The descriptions of a nonsmoker that were important to the majority of youths included: “self-control,” “they usually have a reason not to,” “friends with people who support them.” Important reasons that made it easy or possible to be a nonsmoker included: “health – it's about your health”; “never feel pressured,” “too cute to smoke.” Good things about not smoking included: “longer life,” “you smell better,” “you're not addicted.” Approval of nonsmoking was derived from: “my belief,” “parents,” “friends.” Information derived from this study provides a foundation for improving measures and interventions for youth tobacco prevention. The identification of specific protective factors is critical to development of innovative programs fostering nonsmoking behaviors in children and adolescents, which may ultimately contribute to health promotion and disease prevention in Virginia.

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