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NREPP SAMHSA'S National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices
IMPORTANT LEGACY NOTICE: Legacy Programs have not been reviewed by the current National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices (NREPP). The programs in this database were reviewed only under the previous National Registry of Effective Prevention Programs system. This section is intended to be used for historical reference only. If you would like more information about a program listed here, please contact the program developer directly. The program developer of each Legacy Program listed here agreed to post program information on this site.

Advocacy Intervention To Reduce Smoking Among Teenagers

Brief Program Description

The Advocacy Intervention To Reduce Smoking Among Teenagers is a school-based curriculum designed to reduce tobacco smoking among high school students. The semester-long program is based on social learning and empowerment theory. It is designed to:

  1. Modify proximal social influences on cigarette smoking (e.g., perceived norms and values)
  2. Build awareness of distal environmental influences (e.g., tobacco advertising)
  3. Engage youth in devising strategies to modify environmental influences on cigarette smoking

The curriculum includes three phases:

  1. Dispelling misconceptions about cigarette smoking and raising awareness of environmental influences on smoking (e.g. strategies used by tobacco companies to promote cigarette smoking among teenagers)
  2. Development of advocacy skills and choosing an advocacy project, and
  3. Developing, implementing, and evaluating a community advocacy project

Advocacy projects involve researching a tobacco-related issue, developing educational materials, talking with "people in power" (e.g., school administrators, store owners, physicians), and evaluating progress. Classes are 60-90 minutes long and take place once a week, taught by staff from the Stanford Prevention Research Center.

The intervention has been tested with 11th and 12th grade students in ten continuation high schools in the San Francisco/San Jose, CA, area. Post-treatment, advocacy intervention participants were significantly less likely to report regular smoking (at least one pack of cigarettes per week) than participants randomly assigned to a comparison substance abuse intervention. Advocacy intervention participants also were more likely to value a tobacco-free environment, to perceive they could engage in advocacy activities, and to expect advocacy activities to result in environmental change. The difference between intervention and comparison groups in rates of regular smoking was maintained at 6-month follow-up.

Contact Information

For indepth information on this program, please use the contact listed below.

Program Developer

Marilyn Winkleby, Ph.D.
Stanford Prevention Center
211 Quarry Road, Room N229
Stanford, CA 94305-5705
Phone: (650) 723-7055
Fax: (650) 725-6247
Email: winkleby@stanford.edu

In June 2004, this program was designated as an Effective Program under SAMHSA's previous National Registry of Effective Prevention Programs system.