Efficacy of smoking prevention program 'Smoke-free Kids': study protocol of a randomized controlled trial

Contains fulltext : 77005.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access)Background - A strong increase in smoking is noted especially among adolescents. In the Netherlands, about 5% of all 10-year olds, 25% of all 13-year olds and 62% of all 17-year olds report ever smoking. In the U.S., an intervention program called 'Smoke-free Kids' was developed to prevent children from smoking. The present study aims to assess the effects of this home-based smoking prevention program in the Netherlands. Methods - A randomized controlled trial is conducted among 9 to 11-year old children of primary schools. Participants are randomly assigned to the intervention and control conditions. The intervention program consists of five printed activity modules designed to improve parenting skills specific to smoking prevention and parent-child communication regarding smoking. These modules will include additional sheets with communication tips. The modules for the control condition will include solely information on smoking and tobacco use. Initiation of cigarette smoking (first instance of puffing on a lighted cigarette), susceptibility to cigarette smoking, smoking-related cognitions, and anti-smoking socialization will be the outcome measures. To collect the data, telephone interviews with mothers as well as with their child will be conducted at baseline. Only the children will be examined at post-intervention follow-ups (6, 12, 24, and 36 months after the baseline). Discussion - This study protocol describes the design of a randomized controlled trial that will evaluate the effectiveness of a home-based smoking prevention program. We expect that a significantly lower number of children will start smoking in the intervention condition compared to control condition as a direct result of this intervention. If the program is effective, it is applicable in daily live, which will facilitate implementation of the prevention protocol. Trial registration: Netherlands Trial Register NTR146510 p

The role of parental smoking on implicit and explicit cognitions: a systematic review

Aims: We summarized and discussed the empirical evidence for an association between parental smoking and smokingrelated cognitions among youth and for the mediating role of smoking-related cognitions in the relation between parental and youth smoking behaviour. Methods: We conducted a systematic review of articles published between 1980 and February 2015 using the databases PsychInfo and PubMed. Results: The systematic search resulted in 41 eligible studies. Only 4 studies investigated smoking-related cognitions as putative mediators in the association between parental and youth smoking. The synthesis of evidence showed a mix of significant and non-significant associations between parental smoking and smoking-related cognitions among youth. A majority of results reported positive associations even when non-significant findings were found. However, studies that report an effect suggest that the effect may be quite modest. Conclusion: Empirical evidence does not confirm the commonly applied assertions of social learning theories that parental smoking increases the risk of youth smoking through the development of favourable smokingrelated cognitions. Methodological and theoretical aspects that might explain the lack of consistent findings are discussed

Parental smoking and smoking cognitions among youth

$\textit {Aims:}$ We summarized and discussed the empirical evidence for an association between parental smoking and smoking-related cognitions among youth and for the mediating role of smoking-related cognitions in the relation between parental and youth smoking behaviour. $\textit {Methods:}$ We conducted a systematic review of articles published between 1980 and February 2015 using the databases PsychInfo and PubMed. $\textit {Results:}$ The systematic search resulted in 41 eligible studies. Only 4 studies investigated smoking-related cognitions as putative mediators in the association between parental and youth smoking. The synthesis of evidence showed a mix of significant and non-significant associations between parental smoking and smoking-related cognitions among youth. A majority of results reported positive associations even when non-significant findings were found. However, studies that report an effect suggest that the effect may be quite modest. $\textit {Conclusion:}$ Empirical evidence does not confirm the commonly applied assertions of social learning theories that parental smoking increases the risk of youth smoking through the development of favourable smoking-related cognitions. Methodological and theoretical aspects that might explain the lack of consistent findings are discussed

Engaging parents of children with and without asthma in smoking-specific parenting: results from a 3-year Randomized Controlled Trial evaluation

The present study evaluated long-term effects of a home-based smoking prevention program targeting smoking-specific parenting in families with children with and without asthma. A total of 1398 non-smoking children (mean age 10.1) participated, of which 197 (14.1%) were diagnosed with asthma. Families were blinded to group assignment. The intervention group (n = 684) received booklets with assignments that actively encouraged parents to engage in smoking-specific parenting strategies. Control families (n = 714) received booklets containing basic information about youth smoking. Latent growth curve modeling was used to calculate intercepts and slopes to examine whether there was change in the different parenting aspects over the study period. Regression analyses were used to examine whether a possible change was different for intervention and control condition families with and without a child with asthma. For those smoking-specific parenting aspects that changed over time, families in the intervention and control condition increased similarly. Families with a child with asthma did not engage in parenting at higher levels due to the intervention program than parents of non-asthmatic children. This prevention program did not affect smoking-specific parenting in the Netherlands. Future prevention research could focus on other risk factors for smoking initiation among adolescents with asthma