Discusses the popularity of smoking in the twentieth-century United States and the government's attempts to educate the public to the health risks of tobacco. Examines the surgeon general's reports, the tobacco lobby's response, and the use of mass media advertising by both. Suggests that the United States needs to rethink the nature of behavioral…

Surveyed seventh grade students and teachers from 23 schools to determine association between teacher attitudes, behavioral intentions, and smoking behavior and prevalence of student smoking. Teacher attitudes toward smoking policies were strongly related to current smoking behavior of teacher but not consistently related to student smoking.…

Among 424 urban Puerto Rican high school students, 12 percent of males and 10 percent of females had smoked in the previous month. Past smoking and intentions to smoke were associated with exposure to smokers during recreation and smoking behavior of close friends but not family members. Contains 27 references. (SV)

Subjects were interviewed to determine smoking habits of 9,252 current cigarette smokers (11 percent black) and 7,555 former smokers (6 percent black). More blacks than whites smoked. Blacks were three times more likely to be light smokers than heavy smokers. Effective prevention may require better understanding of cultural factors affecting…

Researchers investigated which questionnaire items would differentiate high-risk adolescents from others, noting which items would differentiate high-risk youth at various tobacco use levels. Though several variables distinguished high-risk youths, only close friends' tobacco use and value placed on health significantly predicted regular smoking…

Analysis of 61 inpatient medical writeups by 23 third year medicine clerks found smoking history notations in 74 percent but quantification of exposure much less commonly. None detailed patient addiction or willingness to quit, or included smoking cessation in the patient plan. Students' smoking assessment and cessation skills are seen as poorly…

Study assessed factors associated with teachers' implementation of health curricula. School representatives implemented one of three smoking prevention curricula in sixth or seventh grades. Experimental teachers received extensive curriculum training. Training significantly related to whether teachers implemented curricula. Variables outside…

Defends the appropriateness of tobacco-free school policies as an effective tool toward ensuring that young people develop into healthy and intellectually strong adults, and demonstrates how such a project can be introduced into a school district. (SM)

Assessed substance use by 2,125 students in grades 4 through 12 and explored differences between students' reported substance use and parents' perceptions of student use. While all parents believed that some students were using cigarettes, alcohol, or marijuana, they underestimated percentage of students in their child's grade who reported use of…

Reviewed worksite health-promotion program evaluations from 1968 to 1994 that addressed the health impact of worksite smoking-cessation programs and smoking policies. Results indicated that smoking-cessation group programs were more effective than minimal treatment programs. Tobacco policies reduced worksite cigarette consumption and environmental…

Assesses the effects of a sixth- and seventh-grade substance-abuse-prevention program in the twelfth-grade year. Questionnaires administered to students who had completed the two-year intervention and students with no intervention (N=262) showed that the effects evident in seventh grade had not been maintained through twelfth grade. (Author/MKA)

Reports the third wave of a longitudinal study that followed 106 15-year-olds from their last compulsory year at school for 22 months. Study shows that this is a period of considerable flux in smoking behavior. Highlights the role of friendship groups and social contexts and suggests that smoking prevention programs should be developed to meet the…

Interviews 8th- and 12th-grade adolescent tobacco users, as part of a larger study on adolescents' reasons for tobacco use. Finds that: students perceive school systems to be hypocritical and to be sending contradictory messages regarding the use of tobacco; and the reward/punishment structure of public school systems may not be effective in…

Patient-centered strategies derived from the stages of change model, and motivational interviewing are used to develop a structured, teachable, and acceptable intervention for clinicians to help patients consider their smoking during general medical consultations. The method is described. Results for the model, tested on 270 smokers, are…

Examined relationships between worksite influences and smoking and quitting behavior among adolescent grocery employees. Surveys on interpersonal, intrapersonal, and organizational factors indicated that regular smokers were 30 percent more likely to receive co-worker encouragement to quit than occasional and experimental smokers. Compared to…