Use of tobacco retail permitting to reduce youth access and exposure to tobacco in Santa Clara County, California

AbstractObjectiveTo target youth smoking, the impact of a local tobacco retail permit was evaluated on the number and location of tobacco retailers, and on the level of enforcement and compliance with tobacco sales regulations from 2010 to 2012 within unincorporated Santa Clara County, California.MethodsGeographic Information Systems (GIS) mapping of each of 36 tobacco retailers pre- and post-intervention, observational surveys of tobacco retail environments pre- and post-intervention, and post-intervention enforcement surveys to measure location of sales, level of enforcement action, and compliance with laws governing sale of tobacco products were conducted.ResultsEleven (30.6%) of the initial 36 retailers selling tobacco at the start of the intervention stopped selling tobacco post intervention. Of these 11 retailers, one was within 500feet of another retailer, and three were within 1000feet of a K–12 school. Ten (91%) of the retailers who stopped selling tobacco were non-traditional retailers.ConclusionAn immediate reduction in the number of stores selling tobacco occurred following implementation of tobacco retail permitting. Post-implementation, all retailers who underwent compliance checks were in compliance with laws prohibiting sales of tobacco to minors. Compliance with laws governing the sale of tobacco has potential to reduce access and use of tobacco products by youth

Behavioral Parent Training in Infancy: A Window of Opportunity for High-Risk Families

To meet the mental health needs of infants from high-risk families, we examined the effect of a brief home-based adaptation of Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) on improvements in infant and parent behaviors and reductions in parenting stress. Participants included 60 infants (55% male; average age of 13.5 ± 1.31 months) who were recruited at a large urban primary care clinic and were included if their scores exceeded the 75th percentile on a brief screener of early behavior problems. Most infants were from an ethnic or racial minority background (98%) and lived below the poverty line (60%). Families were randomly assigned to receive the home-based parenting intervention or standard pediatric primary care. Observational and parent-report measures of infant and parenting behaviors were examined at pre- and post-intervention and at 3- and 6-month follow-ups. Infants receiving the intervention were more compliant with maternal commands at the 6-month follow-up and displayed lower levels of externalizing and internalizing behavior problems across post and follow-up assessments compared to infants in standard care. Mothers receiving the intervention displayed a significantly higher proportion of positive and lower proportion of negative behaviors with their infant during play compared to mothers in the standard care group. There were no significant group differences for parenting stress. Results provide initial evidence for the efficacy of this brief and home-based adaptation of PCIT for infants. These findings highlight the benefit of identification and intervention as early as possible to promote mental health for infants from high-risk families