Patterns of use and descriptive characteristics of adolescents who used a real world one-on-one web-chat service for adolescent smoking cessation

Background and Purpose: Each day 4,800 U.S. adolescents begin smoking and approximately half will become adult smokers. The internet presents a novel way of offering adolescents smoking cessation services; however, little research has been conducted in this area. The purpose of this study was to describe how a large sample of adolescents used a one-on-one web chat service for adolescent smoking cessation.

Methods: A randomly selected sub-sample of chat transcripts was coded for demographic characteristics and reasons for using this service. A code manual was developed, and coders were trained to reliability. Descriptive analyses explored demographics and how chatters used this service. Illustrative statements made by chatters were also recorded.

Results: Chat transcripts (n=882) were coded with 201 transcripts selected for cross-coding to determine reliability. Inter-rater reliability reached the desired standard (Kappa > .80) for the majority of codes. Results indicate that adolescents will use a web-based chat service for smoking cessation. About half (46%) of all chatters specifically expressed a desire to quit smoking in the near future. The most common reason for using this service was advice regarding smoking cessation (50%). Other less frequent purposes included information seeking, proxy chatters, updating on progress, curiosity and prank. Additionally, there was a broad range of other topics that chatters wanted to discuss, including drugs, sexual health, and mental health.

Conclusions: Further research is needed to examine the consistency of these use patterns across web services, and to test the effectiveness of delivering adolescent smoking cessation counseling via the internet.