Effect of a Smoking Prevention Program on Smoking-Related Knowledge, Refusal Self-Efficacy, Attitude, and Intention of Non-Smoking Adolescents

Abstract

The primary purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a three week smoking prevention program on smoking-related knowledge, refusal self-efficacy, attitudes and intentions of non-smoking adolescents. The purposive sampling technique was used in selecting the participants of the study. The participants consisted of 32 non-smoking adolescents ranging in age from 10 to 18 years. The intervention was guided by constructs from the Theory of Planned Behaviour, and the Health Belief Model. This study used the one group pretest-posttest design to investigate the impact of the smoking prevention program. A comparison of the pre-intervention and post-intervention scores revealed that after the intervention, the participants registered higher smoking-related knowledge and refusal self-efficacy; they were less favourable in attitude towards smoking and less likely to smoke in the future (p< 0.01).

Keywords: Health education, Smoking prevention, Evaluation, Adolescent health