Recorded presentation

Harvey A. Skinner, PhD, CPsych, Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Toronto, McMurrich Building, 4th Floor, 12 Queens Park Crescent West, Toronto, ON M5S 1A8, Canada, (416)-978-8989, harvey.skinner@utoronto.ca, Cameron D Norman, MA, Department of Public Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, McMurrich Building, 12 Queens Park Crescent West, Toronto, ON M5S 1A8, Canada, Oonagh Maley, MISt, TeenNet Project, University of Toronto, Room 121 FitzGerald Building, 150 College Street, Toronto, ON M5S 2E2, Canada, and Xiaoqiang Li, PhD, Faculty of Nursing, Unviersity of Toronto, c/o 121 - 150 College Street, Toronto, ON M5S 3E2, Canada.

The Internet offers innovative solutions for engaging youth in smoking prevention and cessation. Interactivity, temporal flexibility and the ease to which information can be tailored can be combined to create engaging and effective behavior change interventions for adolescents. We conducted a randomized controlled trial of a web-based smoking cessation and prevention resource (The Smoking Zine) in 14 high-schools in a large Southern Ontario city. The Smoking Zine is a 5-stage web-based program that features games, self-assessments, customizable quit plans, a discussion board and is complemented by program book and 10-minute group-based motivational interview. 1400 adolescents were randomly assigned to receive the Smoking Zine or participate in a website evaluation task (control) during class time followed by a condition-specific group discussion delivered by graduate-level counsellors and public health nurses specializing in tobacco. Smoking attitudes, behavioral intentions, and readiness (stage) for change were assessed at baseline, post-intervention and 3- and 6-month follow-up. Significant changes in behavioural intentions to smoke and cigarette consumption (p.05) were attributed to the intervention. The Smoking Zine showed its strongest effects with students in grades 9 and 10, particularly with those already using tobacco. Implications and recommended use of the Internet for assisting in school-based tobacco control will be discussed.

Learning Objectives:

• Illustrate the process, barriers, and advantages of using the Internet to deliver smoking prevention and cessation resources
• Describe the analysis and findings of a randomized trial including outcomes and multivariate analysis procedures
• Provide recommended strategies for implementing web-based tobacco interventions into school-based tobacco control programming

Keywords: Smoking Cessation, Internet

Related Web page: www.teennetproject.org

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: TeenNet Project, Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Toronto
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.

Recorded presentation