Introduction
This study examines smoke-free youth partnerships implementing the Teens Against Tobacco
Use model developed by the American Lung Association. This innovative tobacco prevention
strategy has not been evaluated rigorously. Students used peer teaching to educate
youth about tobacco use and engaged in tobacco control advocacy activities. Participating
high school and middle school youth were trained to develop and deliver tobacco prevention
presentations to 4th–8th grade students in schools.
Study design
To evaluate the efficacy of the presentations, matched pairs of classrooms willing
to have 1 presentation were randomly assigned to receive either the presentation first
(intervention condition) or later in the school year (control condition).
Setting/participants
The study took place in a predominantly low-income Hispanic community. A total of
9 schools, 107 classes, and 2,257 students participated in the evaluation.
Main outcome measures
Tobacco susceptibility was assessed with a brief survey administered to students in
both intervention and control classrooms in 2014 and 2015 after the completion of
presentations in intervention classrooms. Analyses completed in 2019 compared intervention
and control classrooms on tobacco susceptibility.
Results
Intent-to-treat analyses indicated that classrooms receiving a tobacco prevention
presentation had significantly lower tobacco susceptibility scores than classrooms
that did not receive a presentation (12% vs 17%, p<0.01), representing a 37% reduction in the odds of tobacco susceptibility. Teens
Against Tobacco Use presenters also completed tobacco retailer compliance checks and
gained media coverage in advocating to regulate e-cigarettes in the same manner as
other tobacco products.
Conclusions
Findings suggest Teens Against Tobacco Use is an effective means of reducing tobacco
susceptibility among 4th–8th graders in the immediate term. Longer-term outcome evaluations
are needed to determine whether Teens Against Tobacco Use presentations can have a
lasting impact on tobacco use.
Trial registration
This study is registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov NCT02443025.
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: September 26, 2019
Identification
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© 2019 American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
