Youth tobacco smoking is one of the major public health problems of this society. Although, by some reports, adult cigarette smoking has been declining, teen smoking rates continue to remain unacceptably high. Current data indicates that smoking rates among minority youth which had declined in the past few years are beginning to rise again. The current increase in teen smoking and subsequent health dangers associated with smoking demonstrates a need for more effective, empirically based youth smoking prevention strategies. The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of a substance abuse prevention program in reducing smoking among sixth grade African American students in Louisiana. The literature identifies several demographic and psychological variables that can influence smoking rates. These variables include anti-smoking attitudes, normative beliefs about smoking, decision-making ability, smoking refusal ability, general assertiveness ability, and selected demographic characteristics. This study also examined these variables to determine their significance in preventing smoking among African American youth. The study utilized a quasi-experimental non-equivalent control group design. Data was collected from 68 sixth grade African American students enrolled in one middle school located in South Central Louisiana. Results of the study indicate that sixth grade African American students: (a) report low intentions to smoke cigarettes; (b) exhibit lower levels of smoking behavior if they live in two-parent homes; and (c) have misconceptions about smoking in which they tend to overestimate the smoking rates of their peers and adults. The findings also indicate that sixth grade African American students who have higher academic performance are less likely to smoke cigarettes. Finally, the study found that sixth grade African American students who have higher levels of decision-making ability, smoking refusal ability, and anti-smoking attitudes have lower extent of smoking behavior and lower intentions to smoke cigarettes.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LSU/oai:etd.lsu.edu:etd-11092006-201044 |
| Date | 10 November 2006 |
| Creators | Nichols, Alan J. |
| Contributors | Dellinger, Barry, Burnett, Michael, Livermore, Michelle, Cain, Daphne, Mohan, Brij |
| Publisher | LSU |
| Source Sets | Louisiana State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-11092006-201044/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached herein a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to LSU or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below and in appropriate University policies, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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