Scheduled for Research Coordinating Board Poster Session II, Friday, March 16, 2007, 10:45 AM - 12:15 PM, Convention Center: Exhibit Hall Poster Area II


An Evaluation of Tobacco Education/Prevention Programs

Linda R. Klingaman, Sarah Zdesar, Sharon Deutschlander and Christine Black, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Indiana, PA

Tobacco use is the single leading preventable cause of death in the United States, creating a demand to try to decrease the amount of tobacco sales in the U.S. (Krisberg, 2005). With 430,000 tobacco related deaths each year, the tobacco company has continuously tried to target youth when promoting their product (Farrelly M., Davis K., Haviland, M., Messeri, P., Healton, C., 2005). Under the 1998 multi-state tobacco settlement, the tobacco industry was obligated to fund the Public Education Fund for five years in prevention and education related to the harms of tobacco use (Krisberg, 2005). Each state is now responsible to combat tobacco use with anti-tobacco campaigns that hope to prevent early tobacco use. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of anti-tobacco campaigns and education. It was a descriptive research study in which a group of eighteen year old high school students in selected public schools in Pennsylvania completed a sixteen question survey that identified their feelings toward tobacco education and prevention. Variables compared in this study were gender, past and current tobacco use, exposure to tobacco prevention education, reasons for stopping or never using tobacco products, prior knowledge of the truth campaign, reaction to anti-tobacco advertisements, and evaluation of school's anti-tobacco education program. The study was approved by the Indiana University of Pennsylvania Institutional Review Board Committee (IRB). Permission was also obtained from each school district involved in the study. Descriptive statistics were used to identify incidence and prevalence of tobacco use among this population. A comparative analysis used t t-testing to determine gender differences regarding reasons for choosing not to use tobacco, choice of effective prevention and education programs, evaluation of schools' tobacco prevention programs, and schools' tobacco policies. ANOVA testing determined differences between responses of those who never used tobacco, those who experimented, past users, and current users. The results of this study are an important beginning in determining the effectiveness of the anti-tobacco campaigns. Learner objectives include: 1. identifying variables students report most likely to effectively reduce tobacco use; 2. determining differences between males and females' perspective on the anti-tobacco campaign; 3. determining differences between tobacco user/nonusers' perspective on the anti-tobacco campaign; 4. plan direction for future tobacco education/prevention programs.
Keyword(s): disease prevention/wellness, health education K-12, research

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