Abstract
Fifty four percent of United States high school students have tried some form of tobacco and 23% report regular tobacco use. Over half of adolescent smokers have tried to quit within the past year, but most were unsuccessful. This suggests youth have a high level of interest in quitting but may need additional help and support in maintaining their motivation to quit. The Tobacco Dependence Program at UMDNJ- School of Public Health developed the school-based Youth Quit2Win Program designed to educate adolescent smokers about tobacco, and increase motivation to quit. This chapter summarizes the development of this youth smoking education and cessation program and presents preliminary outcomes. Over three academic years from 2003-2006, 327 adolescents participated in the program. Each year the program was modified based on the previous year's experiences and feedback from both students and school staff. The 10-session (8 week) group format appears to be suitable for school staff to run, and successful in helping adolescents to maintain their motivation to reduce or quit smoking. Almost a third of the participants reduced their weekly cigarette consumption by at least 90% by the end of the program.
Original language | English (US) |
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Title of host publication | Handbook of Smoking and Health |
Publisher | Nova Science Publishers, Inc. |
Pages | 517-534 |
Number of pages | 18 |
ISBN (Print) | 9781606928653 |
State | Published - Dec 1 2011 |
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- General Medicine