Within a computer-assisted smoking prevention and cessation program, 78 high school students completed a modified version of the Fagerstrom Tolerance Questionnaire twice during a two-month time period. Although analysis of the instrument revealed sufficient stability, future research should include the development of items that better reflect…

Examines the prevalence of smokeless tobacco use, and its relationship to other risky behaviors in school children in grades 4 through 12 (N=31,861). Among high school males, the prevalence of risk-taking behaviors and feelings of stress and depression were significantly higher among users. Joint users of cigarettes and smokeless tobacco reported…

Two versions of the Smoking Consequences Questionnaire for adults were developed and tested with 407 smokers and nonsmokers. The version with probability items appeared to have greater construct validity than the version with subjective expected utility items. The scale reflects the refinement of smokers' outcome expectancies with experience. (SLD)

Examined 12- to 17-year-olds' responses to cigarette advertisements. Found that a substantial proportion of adolescents, especially smokers, liked ads for youth brands and believed they made smoking more appealing. Ads for Marlboro brand and new Camel and Winston ads were especially attractive to adolescents. Few adolescents liked the adult brand…

Surveyed caregivers of elementary students regarding demographics, smoking characteristics and attitudes, and receptivity to and preferred format for health promotion programs. Most smokers wanted to quit and did not want their children to smoke. Respondents considered it important to involve children in quit attempts and were willing to…

Objective: This study was designed to examine the role of DNA variants of the dopamine D4 receptor gene (DRD4) in smoking experimentation in adolescents and to determine the extent to which novelty seeking (NS) could account for a possible effect of DRD4 on tobacco use. Method: Participants were from a longitudinal study of an original birth…

Objective: Bupropion SR has been shown to be effective for the treatment of nicotine dependence in adults. This open-label pilot study was designed to examine the feasibility and preliminary tolerability of bupropion SR in adolescents with nicotine dependence. Method: Sixteen adolescents aged 12 to 19 years were enrolled in the study. Eleven of…

This study focused on the strategies adolescents endorsed for situations in which friends were experimenting with alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs. Four hypothetical vignettes (concerning a friend smoking, using drugs, getting drunk at a party, or deciding whether to attend a party with alcohol and drugs) were presented to 2697 5th-12th graders.…

This paper presents the findings of a five-year study of year-11 pupils (15?16 years old), based on a sample drawn from seven schools in the North West of England. It examines: use, feelings about close friend's use and perceptions of the health-related risks of specific drugs. The findings conform with those examining other similar populations,…

This study examined associations between maternal social influences to smoke and girls' early smoking behaviors. Data were collected separately from 450 urban minority girls (65.7% Black, 21.5% Latina, and 12.8% other) and their mothers on smoking frequency as well as demographic and social factors hypothesized to promote smoking. Results showed…

Objectives: To examine the difference in tobacco use between adolescents who participate in organized sports and those who do not. Methods: Using a cross-sectional study design, this study uses data from a nationally representative sample of adolescents enrolled in public high schools in the United States. Results: Those participating in organized…

In this article, the authors present an adolescent counseling intervention used by the California Smokers' Helpline and test in the largest randomized trials to date. In this study, more than 1,400 teen clients were randomly assigned to an intervention group or a control group. Participants in the intervention group received telephone counseling…

Objective: To examine associations between social influences and smoking-related attitudes and age of cigarette use initiation among college students. Methods: Responses from 3 campus surveys (2 random, 1 convenience) were analyzed. The surveys were modeled from existing state or national tobacco surveys and other psychometrically valid surveys.…

Background: Involvement in interpersonal violence or suicidal behaviors can have a significant impact on an adolescent's physical health. Similarly, previous research has suggested that lived experiences, more than the presence or absence of physical ailments, can significantly influence self-assessed health status among adolescents. The purpose…

During the 2004-2005 school year, Austin Independent School District (AISD) received a total federal Title IV grant of $477,413 that was used to support substance use and violence prevention efforts at each level of the AISD Student Intervention Model.