Extract

Background and study aims Tobacco smoking continues to be an important cause of various diseases and death both in the UK and world wide. The vast majority of smokers take up the habit as adolescents between the ages of 10 and 20 years. This appears to be the case despite the fact that health promotion messages have ensured that awareness of the health consequences of smoking is now widespread, even among the young. The present research focuses on reducing smoking initiation as potentially the most effective way to reduce smoking-related harm. The method in question is the formation of repeated implementation intentions about how to refuse offers of cigarettes. Implementation intentions are simple ‘if-then’ plans of how to respond to environmental cues in order to help achieve a goal such as not taking up smoking, e.g., if offered a cigarette I will say ‘no thanks, I don’t smoke’. The aim of the current study is to find out whether the method is effective in preventing smoking initiation among young people. Who can participate? Year 7 high school students from the Leeds and Staffordshire area, UK. What does the study involve? Participating high schools will be randomly assigned to either an intervention or control group. Year 7 high school students (11-12 years of age) will complete a smoking questionnaire and carbon monoxide (CO) test at the start of the study. In the intervention group, adolescents will form implementation intentions (If-then plans) about how to refuse offers of cigarettes and read simple anti-smoking messages designed to increase motivation not to smoke. In the control group, adolescents will form similar implementation intentions in relation to an unrelated behaviour (i.e., completing all homework) and also read simple motivational messages about that behaviour. The messages and implementation intention task will be presented in the form of a questionnaire. The task will be introduced and led by a trained teacher but completed individually in the classroom and will take a maximum of 30 minutes to complete. Training on how to introduce and conduct the implementation intention method will be undertaken by teachers in the participating schools. Both sets of implementation intentions will be repeated every six months over a four-year time period. Carbon monoxide test and self-reported smoking (questionnaire) will be measured at twelve month intervals over the same four-year time period. Where is the study run from? Participating high schools are based in the Leeds and Staffordshire area, UK. When is the study starting and how long is it expected to run for? The study starts in September 2012 and is expected to run until December 2016. What are the possible benefits and risks of participating? Benefits may involve motivating students to make informed decisions about not smoking. Should the results of the study be positive this could support its widespread use to reduce smoking initiation rates in adolescent groups. Given the relatively simple nature of the intervention this could provide a scalable, cost-effective means of reducing adolescent smoking initiation. Specific benefits for schools include evidence to support the key judgment of ‘Behaviour and Safety’ of pupils within the OFSTED Inspection Framework, support for schools if they are part of the Healthy Schools programme. four free CPD workshops over 4 years by the researchers, schools are provided with a prestigious certificate for promoting health research. No major risks or discomfort are anticipated. Who is funding the study? Medical Research Council (MRC) / National Prevention Research Initiative (NPRI) in the UK. Who is the main contact? Professor Mark Conner [email protected]

Inclusion criteria

• Smoking initiation

Links

• isrctn
• ictrp