One in ten eighth graders is a smoker, and one-fourth smoke by the end of high school. Twenty percent of high school students report first using tobacco before age 13. Additionally, over one-fifth of children in the U. S. are exposed to secondhand smoke at home.
Certain psychological, personality, and familial factors for early tobacco use have been identified. Understanding the norms, personal motivations, and prevention recommendations for tobacco experimentation is also crucial in program development. Our goal was to obtain information that will assist educators, caregivers, and and others to develop more-effective programs.
Data were collected in February 2005 from 1433 children at twelve health education centers in seven states. Classes, grades 4-8, visiting centers during data collection, were eligible to participate. Trained center staff read each question and answer choice as they simultaneously appeared on a large screen. Participating students indicated their choices by pressing corresponding letters on handheld, electronic keypads. All respondents remained anonymous.
Questions were developed by a project advisory team consisting of center staff, school administrators and teachers, a child psychologist, a pediatrician, university researchers, and health educators. The survey was revised after pilot testing with two classes at a one center. School-level data (e.g., ethnicl proportion or free/reduced lunch participation) for schools participating were obtained from the National Center for Educational Statistics. Total demographic data for this study approximated national averages.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
At the conclusion of this session, participants will be able to:
1. Identify the primary individual, familial, peer, and community risk factors for underage tobacco use 2. Based on the results of this study, identify children's opinions regarding the: the acceptability of, motivations for, and prevention recommendation for early tobacco use 3. Identify implications of the results of the study for curriculum development/planning for tobacco prevention programs for children grades 4-8