Data were collected via brief telephone surveys of middle school and high school teachers responsible for tobacco use prevention education (TUPE) in Florida. Differences in teachers' perceptions of TUPE were significantly associated with perceived barriers and features of school contexts. Implications of these findings for the effective delivery…

Examined associations between access to cigarettes and trial use of cigarettes. Early adolescents completed two smoking surveys 1 year apart. Trial smoking at time 2 was predicted from time 1 cigarette availability variables. Offers from friends/classmates were a significant cross-sectional predictor. Greater perceptions of ease of obtaining…

Study assessed the influence of group membership on the use of multiple substances among adolescents. Organized group activity included clubs and organizations, as well as athletic participation. Multiple substance included current use of any combination of alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana. Group participation had a buffering effect on multiple…

Used data from a statewide sample of 5,870 eighth graders in California to examine the correlates of smoking prevalence estimates. Best friends' smoking accounted for the largest proportion of the variance in prevalence estimates. Smoking by peers may give adolescents the impression that smoking is more normative and prevalent than it actually is.…

Interviews and surveys of 272 Manitoba nursing students yielded 5 themes related to health promotion and tobacco use: identity, central beliefs/attitudes, learning the facts, limited practice options, and role conflict. Students expressed considerable uncertainty about individual autonomy, themselves as role models, and their use of health…

Randomly assigned 1,218 smokers to cells in 4 (nicotine gum delivered ad lib, fixed regimen nicotine gum, placebo gum, no gum) x 3 (self-selected relapse prevention modules, randomly administered modules, no modules) design. Subjects receiving nicotine gum were more likely to be abstinent at 2- and 6-month followups. Fixed regimen accounted for…

Analyzes progress in the fight against the "cigarette epidemic," presents evidence relating smoking to cancer, and provides suggestions for citizen action to curb cigarette-smoking and to prevent children from developing the habit. (LS)

Administered questionnaires to 63 pregnant nullipara to determine factors that may influence their decision to stop smoking following childbirth. Results revealed three factors which contributed equally to explaining variance: perceived self-efficacy, smoking habits during pregnancy, and attitude. Also found significant differences between…

Examines how social conditions can become social problems and argues that there are objective ways of determining the scale of a particular problem. The paper supports its argument through examinations of prohibition, the decline in tobacco consumption, and the war on drugs. (GLR)

Comparison of cardiovascular risk factors (blood lipids, obesity, and smoking) in 329 adults with mental retardation residing in various settings with subjects in the Framingham Offspring Study found that adults with mental retardation had cardiovascular risk profiles similar to those of individuals without mental retardation. (Author/DB)

Examined relationships between drug trafficking (selling and delivering), cigarette and alcohol use, and illicit drug use among African-American adolescents. Found that drug trafficking is equally likely to occur with or without cigarette and alcohol use or illicit drug involvement, suggesting that intervention should extend to drug trafficking in…

Finds that (1) inoculation promotes resistance to smoking onset, but only among adolescents of low self-esteem, precisely those most at risk to smoking initiation in the first place; (2) among this group inoculation contributed to a greater chance of overtly resisting smoking, less positive attitudes toward smoking, and subsequently to less…

Interviews with random samples of 641 registrants for a smoking cessation program on Chicago television news and 2,398 smokers who regularly viewed the news determined that registration was associated with (1) recognition of the need to change behavior; (2) high expectation for quitting; (3) concern about the burden of lung cancer on significant…

Compared the effectiveness of the American Cancer Society's "FreshStart," the American Lung Association's "Freedom from Smoking," and a laboratory smoking cessation clinic. A one-year followup favored the more intensive laboratory and "Freedom from Smoking" clinics over the "FreshStart" method. (FMW)

Discusses the use of transdermal nicotine (TN) in smoking cessation and its value as an effective procedure. The article reveals that, compared to a placebo, TN has double the quit rate percentages, and less than 5% of smokers quit TN due to side effects. (GLR)