Abstract
The purpose of this study was to explore the feasibility of implementing a tobacco use prevention intervention using social skills education and puppet scripts in an afterschool program. A total of 75 K-2 students attending an afterschool program in a rural Midwest area participated in a 4-lesson youth development tobacco prevention curriculum and completed a pre-post tobacco knowledge quiz. Additionally, 10 program mentors completed a pre-post program strengths and difficulties (SDQ) questionnaire on their assigned students. A series of t-tests were computed to examine differences in the pre and post scores of participants on the SDQ subscales, and total scales and descriptive statistics were computed on the tobacco knowledge quiz. Statistically significant differences were noted on 4 pre–post subscales scores of the SDQ and the total SDQ. Use of youth development curriculum using interactive puppet-based strategies implemented in afterschool settings may be a feasible health education strategy.
Highlights
Tobacco product use usually starts in youth, and earlier onset of the behavior is related to greater health risk (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2020)
The Tobacco Tips intervention provides an example of elementary-level prevention education that may be reproduced by afterschool program settings seeking to incorporate positive youth development approaches to tobacco use prevention
Considering the importance of intervention at the elementary level, this program may provide a model for early social skill building that promotes the development of drug resistance skills and the acquisition of prevention knowledge
Summary
Tobacco product use (e.g., cigarettes, hookahs, smokeless tobacco, e-cigarettes) usually starts in youth, and earlier onset of the behavior is related to greater health risk (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2020). In 2016, almost four million secondary school students reported using tobacco with about half reporting use of at least two types of products. Elementary school is an important developmental time for cognitive and social skill acquisition. In this transition period, children are more aware of their physical and social environment (DelGiudice, 2017). Children are more aware of their physical and social environment (DelGiudice, 2017) During these early academic years, students are expected to acquire cognitive regulation skills to attain goals, follow teacher directions, and problem-solve. Because perceptions about tobacco and other substance use are formed early on, prevention-intervention programming should start early in a student’s school career (Faggiano et al, 2014) to help decrease risk factors for later substance use. For males of lower socioeconomic status, childhood risk factors were indirectly associated with substance abusing behaviors in adolescence (Sitnick et al, 2013)
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