Potential effects of active parental consent: Enrolling teen smokers into a school-based cessation program

Introduction: Research on effective teen smoking cessation interventions is critical to reducing the tobacco-related disease burden and risk of lifetime negative health outcomes for youth. However, informed consent procedures requiring active parental consent may restrict or influence teen participation in critical teen cessation programs. Methods: Not On Tobacco (N-O-T) is a teen smoking cessation intervention that has been implemented under both active parental consent and passive parental consent conditions. The present study determined if there are differences in characteristics of youth enrolled under each condition. Data were available for active consent (n= 968) and passive consent (n= 4,924) participants aged 14-18 who completed the N-O-T program between 1998 and 2006 across several states. Results: Participants enrolled under active consent conditions were more likely to be older, White/non-Hispanic, live in father-only or grandparent-headed household, start smoking at an earlier age, smoke more on weekdays, have previous unsuccessful quit attempts, and have siblings and friends who smoke. Additional differences were found between active and passive consent conditions in motivation to quit smoking, confidence in quitting, and stage of change. Discussion: Results highlight important differences between youth who enroll in a smoking cessation program under active and passive consent conditions, often a distinguishing feature of research and non-research implementation.