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Cancer Control Research

Abstract

Smoking prevalence among adolescents is once again on the rise. Adolescents are often motivated and try to quit, but very few existing adolescent cessation programs showed longterm effectiveness. A new advance in cessation counseling uses computer systems to tailor messages to gender, ethnicity, and stage of change toward cessation. However, these systems are not configured for majority of adolescent smokers who are in thr process of uptake and smoke intermittently, because they assume regular smoking and nicotine dependence. The systems also do not take full advantage of the latest advances in computer and media technologies that can be distributed widely over the global information network and that can be configured by the smoker to self-tailor counseling. in this four-phase project, a computerized tailoring cessation counseling system will be designed for smokers aged 12-15 that matches messages to stage of uptake using the next generation of computer technology, interactive multimedia. Phase I will be devoted to formative research (adolescent survey, adolescent and teacher focus groups, computer use study, school policy surveys) to developing tailoring protocols for experimenters and regular smokers (and possibly ex-smokers). Multimedia production will occur in Phase I and modules and implementation procedures will be "beta" tested (pilot-tested) in Phase Ii. Phase III will contain a randomized trial on the effectiveness of the multimedia program, using a pretest- posttest control group design with students enrolled in grades 6-9 in 30 pair-matched public schools in Tucson and Albuquerque. The multimedia cessation program will be disseminated in Phase IV over the World Wide Web. A feasibility study will be conducted that monitors access and use of it by community organizations and schools serving adolescents, especially those at high risk (e.g., low academic attainment, truancy).