Curbing Tobacco Use in Suburban and Rural Schools
Condition: Tobacco Use Cessation
Study type: Interventional
Phase: Phase 1

Summary: 
      Primary, secondary, and tertiary specific aims are to answer the following questions about
      interactive, Internet-based tobacco control intervention directed towards 10th-graders:

        1. Smoking Prevention (primary): Does the intervention result in a lower incidence of
           smoking initiation compared to standard care?

        2. Smoking Cessation (primary): Does the intervention result in higher rates of smoking
           cessation compared to standard care?

        3. Reduction of Spit Tobacco Use (secondary): Does the intervention have an impact on spit
           tobacco use compared to standard care?

        4. Stages of Change (tertiary): Does the intervention have an impact on progression through
           the stages of smoking and spit tobacco acquisition and cessation compared to standard
           care?

        5. Mediating Variables (tertiary): How are mediating variables associated with tobacco-use
           onset and cessation?

        6. Testing Predictors: Investigate established and recently elucidated predictors of
           susceptibility to smoking at baseline and 12-month follow-up.

        7. Develop/Validate Spit Tobacco Measures: Investigate predictors of susceptibility of spit
           tobacco use at baseline and 12-month follow-up

        8. Testing Measures Across Race/Ethnicity: Explore predictors of susceptibility to smoking
           at baseline and 12-month follow-up to determine whether predictors differ among White,
           African-American, and Hispanic students.
    

Detailed description: 
      The proposed study will test the effectiveness of the Internet-based cigarette smoking and
      spit tobacco (ST) prevention and cessation in-class curriculum for rural teens. Supplemented
      by "cyber-support" (chat room and bulletin board), the intervention program also will make
      use of a human social support environment (via trained school personnel, chat rooms, bulletin
      boards). The study will use a nested cohort design in which high schools are the unit of
      design, allocation, and analysis. Tenth-grade students (ages 14-16) within each intervention
      school will receive a 7-week interactive, Internet-based tobacco prevention and cessation
      curriculum. Using computerized surveys, study participants will be evaluated at baseline,
      6-month, 12-month, and 18-month follow-ups. The study has been designed to permit analyses
      sensitive enough to detect differences for the two primary hypotheses: reductions in smoking
      initiation and smoking cessation. Trends in ST use after exposure to the intervention program
      will also be assessed. The design will also permit analysis of stage-of-change dynamics and
      mediators for both acquisition and cessation of both forms of tobacco.
    

Intervention name(s): Smoking Prevention Program; Focus Group; Survey
Intervention type(s): Behavioral; Behavioral; Behavioral
Intervention description(s): Interactive internet, computer-based activities (like games) with questions about thoughts on smoking and tobacco.; A total of 24 focus groups will be held relating to the topics of smoking prevention and cessation.; On-line evaluations and questionnaires
Intervention model: Single Group Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)
Primary purpose: Prevention
Keywords: Epidemiology; Cancer Prevention; Smoking Cessation; Smoking Prevention; Focus Groups