Effects of a Tobacco Prevention Education Program on Adolescents' Knowledge of and Attitudes towards Smoking
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Abstract
[[abstract]]Objectives. To evaluate the effectiveness of a smoking prevention program on the perception
of and attitudes towards smoking in adolescents.
Methods. First graders of eight randomly selected junior high schools in Taichung were
recruited into two groups. A total of 412 students from four schools served as the
experimental group and 440 students from the other four schools comprised the control group.
All of the students received an educational brochure after completing a structured
pre-intervention questionnaire to measure their knowledge about and attitudes towards
smoking. After two weeks, an intervention program consisting of a two-hour lecture was
provided to the experimental group only; then, each group completed the same
post-intervention questionnaire. A total of 778 students completed the pre- and
post-intervention questionnaires.
Results. The results indicated that adolescents’ knowledge about and attitudes toward
smoking in the experimental group (0.18 > 0.12, p = 0.039) improved significantly after the
intervention program. Furthermore, after controlling for possible confounding factors such as
gender, family structure, smoking experience, and the baseline knowledge and attitudes,
adolescents’ knowledge about and attitudes toward cigarette smoking in the experimental
group still improved significantly than those in the control group (b = 1.203, p < 0.001; b =
1.21, p = 0.027).
Conclusions. The tobacco prevention education program improved adolescents’ knowledge
about and attitudes toward the hazards of cigarette smoking