1. Use of Interactive Health Communication to Affect Smoking Intentions in Middle School Students: A Pilot Test of the 'Headbutt' Risk Assessment Program
- Author
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Kentya C. Ford, Alfred L. McAlister, Ross Shegog, Ronald J. Peters, Shoahua Hu, and Angela Meshack
- Subjects
Male ,Gerontology ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Health (social science) ,Ethnic group ,Smoking Prevention ,Health Promotion ,Affect (psychology) ,Risk Assessment ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,Intervention (counseling) ,medicine ,Humans ,030212 general & internal medicine ,Child ,Health communication ,Internet ,Schools ,030505 public health ,business.industry ,Communication ,Public health ,Smoking ,Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health ,Cognition ,Health promotion ,Female ,0305 other medical science ,business ,Risk assessment - Abstract
Purpose. Developing and disseminating innovative and effective approaches for smoking prevention among middle school children remains a public health priority. This pilot study evaluates the use of a Web-based tobacco prevention program, Headbutt, to change intentions of middle school children to smoke tobacco. Methods. Headbutt was implemented with the use of a single-group pretest-posttest study design in sixth grade classes of nine middle schools in Texas (student n = 2227). The program assesses cognitive determinants of smoking and provides intervention feedback tailored to the child's responses. Results. Headbutt significantly affected smoking intentions, prosmoking attitudes, self-efficacy expectations, and knowledge of negative consequences (all p ≤ .001) measured with scales adopted from the Texas Tobacco Initiative Survey. Change in prosmoking attitudes had the greatest predictive effect on smoking intentions (p < .001). These results were moderated by ethnicity and age of students. Conclusion. Findings need to be interpreted in the light of study design limitations. However, strong associations between the Headbutt program and intention change suggests that a more rigorous effectiveness trial is indicated.
- Published
- 2005