Learning Objectives: To identify components of effective self-help smoking programs for college students.
Abstract:
Problem/Objective:One-third of college students smoke at least occasionally. Leave The Pack Behind (LTPB) – a multi-campus, comprehensive tobacco control initiative – offers these smokers uninterrupted access to diverse programs and services. The effectiveness of a new self-help smoking cessation program designed by LTPB specifically for post-secondary smokers is under investigation.
Methods:Self-identified smokers (N=876) who access LTPB at twice-weekly interactive displays across six different universities are randomly assigned to receive the new Smoke|Quit program (S|Q), the Canadian Cancer Society’s self-help program (CCS), or a control package of pamphlets and novelty items. At weeks 4 and 12, participants receive proactive telephone support calls during which data are also collected.
Results:Complete data sets now available from 116 participants show 12.9% have quit smoking: 21.6% in the S|Q condition, 6.1% in the CCS condition, and 13.3% from the control condition. Urine cotinine testing with a subsample of quitters confirm the self-reports. Among respondents still smoking, repeated-measures ANOVA shows a decrease over time in self-reported cigarettes smoked per week, but no between group differences. Smoking decreased from baseline (M=55.2; sd=4.7) to 12-week follow-up (M=36.5, sd=4.0), f(1,96)=20.1, p < .001. When asked whether the amount of information is appropriate and whether they follow the advice offered, S|Q participants respond more favorably than CCS participants.
Conclusions:Offering college smokers a self-help program that addresses their developmental stage may enhance successful quitting relative to traditional interventions aimed broadly at adults.
Back to Poster Session
Back to Cessation, Nicotine, and the Science of Addiction
Back to The 2003 National Conference on Tobacco or Health (December 10-12, 2003)