# SMOKING PREVENTION THROUGH MASS MEDIA AND SCHOOL PROGRAM

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF VERMONT & ST AGRIC COLLEGE · 1991 · $847,352

## Abstract

This renewal of "Smoking Prevention Through Mass Media and School
Programs: (CA38395) provides for further follow-up of students exposed
to the educational interventions and further data analyses. The project
was funded through the Smoking, Tobacco, and Cancer Program of the
Division of Cancer Prevention and Control in 1984 as part of a group of
studies evaluating the educational use of mass media in control of
tobacco use.  Our major question was to test the ability of mass media
interventions to add to the established efficacy of school smoking
prevention programs.  In the original design, two matched pairs of
communities were systematically selected to provide student samples.
Within these SMSAs specific school districts and feeder systems were
chosen to provide a closer match on demographic characteristics.   The
inception cohorts of 5458 students in Grades 4,5, and 6 were established
in Binghamton, NY and Great FAlls, MT, and in Burlington, VT and
Billings, MT in Spring, 1985.  Those in the first community pair then
received four years of the school program only.  Evaluation was
accomplished through annual surveys of students which combined self-
response with saliva collection procedures to enhance reports of tobacco
use.  Annual surveys were conducted through Grade 8,9, and 10.  Data from
these surveys were linked for individual students from year to year.
Preliminary results from the five-year linked data sets show that the
mass media program appeared to provide an advantage in preventing
cigarette smoking, as  measured by the Smoking Behavior Index or
prevalence measures, especially among girls.  This apparent advantage
also was  reflected in a series of variables which were theoretically
linked to this outcome  as   mediators of program effect.  Substance use
behaviors not targeted by these interventions showed no similar advantage
for the experimental group.

For this renewal we will  follow-up all students from the inception
cohort through school and telephone surveys to collect data on smoking
behavior and other indicators of program impact when the main group of
this cohort is in Grades 10,11, and 12 during 1991.
School surveys, for those who have remained  in their original    school
districts, will be conducted by the team which conducted the earlier
surveys.  Telephone follow-up, for those who transferred to another
school  district or dropped out of school, will be conducted by a survey
research group from the University of Minnesota.  The four studies will
accomplish assessment of impact of the interventions two years after
their completion on 1) those who were exposed to the complete
interventions; 2) those exposed to a part of the interventions because
they transferred to another school district; 3) those who dropped out of
school; and 4) the complete inception cohort.  To accomplish these
objectives, we have assembled a multi-disciplinary team of investigators
and  consultants with expertise in public health, human developme...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 3176504
- **Project number:** 2R01CA038395-06
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF VERMONT & ST AGRIC COLLEGE
- **SAM.gov UEI:** Z94KLERAG5V9
- **Principal Investigator:** ROGER H SECKER-WALKER
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 1991
- **Award amount:** $847,352
- **Award type:** 2
- **Project period:** 1984-09-01 → 1993-12-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/3176504

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 3176504, SMOKING PREVENTION THROUGH MASS MEDIA AND SCHOOL PROGRAM (2R01CA038395-06). Retrieved via MORVS 2026-10-25 from https://api.morvs.ai/grant/nih/3176504. Licensed CC0.

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