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Community Youth Tobacco Prevention Impact Evaluation - the Maine Story
The independent variable, intensity of HMP tobacco focus, was the sum of youth tobacco prevention strategies implemented across the four years, collapsed into two categories: 18 HMPs with a more intense tobacco focus (implemented 10 or more strategies over the four years) and 12 HMPs with a less intense tobacco focus (fewer than 10 strategies). The dependent variables (smoking behavior and exposure) and mediators (environments, social norms, and beliefs) came from the 2011 Maine Integrated Youth Health Survey, controlling for comparable baseline data from the 2006 Maine Youth Drug and Alcohol Use Survey.
Preliminary bivariate analyses found state-wide improvement in behavior (onset age, recent smoking), exposure to smoke, norms (parental disapproval) and beliefs (perceived risk). In HMP areas with more intense tobacco focus, compared to the less intense areas: 1) fewer students reported seeing a lot of tobacco ads, 2) more students were taught in class about the dangers of tobacco, and 3) fewer students reported having a close friend who smoked in the past year. Also, 4) there was an increase (versus none) among smokers in the percent who smoked <10 cigarettes/day smoked.
This presentation will discuss the impact evaluation findings and implications for future HMP youth tobacco prevention strategies.
Learning Areas:
Chronic disease management and preventionConduct evaluation related to programs, research, and other areas of practice
Public health or related public policy
Learning Objectives:
Describe impact evaluation methods used to assess the relationship between implementation of tobacco-free youth prevention strategies and short-, intermediate, and long-term outcomes.
List associations between strategy implementation and mediators and behaviors.
Keyword(s): Evaluation, Policy/Policy Development
Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am the Lead Evaluator for the Partnership for a Tobacco-Free Maine. I have been the principal or co-principal of multiple state and federally funded grants focusing on the evaluation of state chronic disease prevention programs. Among my scientific interests has been the prevention of tobacco use, especially among youth at both the state and community level.
Any relevant financial relationships? Yes
| Name of Organization | Clinical/Research Area | Type of relationship |
|---|---|---|
| Maine CDC | Evaluation | Employment (includes retainer) |
I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.