School Smoking Policies Research Articles

Is there a relation between school smoking policies and youth cigarette smoking knowledge and behaviors?

To comply with workplace legislation, New Zealand schools are required to have policies regarding tobacco smoking. Many schools also have policies to prevent tobacco use by students, including education programmes, cessation support and punishment for students found smoking. This paper investigated the associations between school policies and the prevalence of students' cigarette smoking. Furthermore, we investigated the association between school policy and students' tobacco purchasing behavior, knowledge of health effects from tobacco use and likelihood of influencing others not to smoke. Data were obtained from a self-report survey administered to 2,658 New Zealand secondary school students and staff from 63 schools selected using a multi-stage sampling procedure. Components of school policy were not significantly associated with smoking outcomes, health knowledge or health behavior, and weakly related to a punishment emphasis and students advising others to not smoke. Similarly, weak associations were found between not advising others to not smoke and policies with a punishment emphasis as well as smoke-free environments. The results suggest that having a school tobacco policy was unrelated to the prevalence of tobacco use among students, tobacco purchasing behavior and knowledge of the negative health effects of tobacco.

European dental school smoking policies lagging behind US

European dental school smoking policies lagging behind US

Symptoms of nicotine dependence and other predictors of student smoking at school: implications for school smoking policy.

Students who violate school smoking policies present a difficult health and disciplinary issue for school officials. Professionals know little about the characteristics of students who smoke at school. In a prospective study of 679 students in two cities in central Massachusetts, researchers examined how nicotine dependence contributes to the problem of smoking at school. After three years of follow up, smoking at school was reported by 10.3% of students. Among subjects who admitted to smoking at school, 63% reported that symptoms of nicotine dependence preceded their smoking at school. After adjusting for other variables, student smokers with symptoms of nicotine dependence were nine times more likely to report smoking in school (OR 9.1, 95% CI 2.9-28.5) than were student smokers without symptoms. Smoking at school was more common among daily smokers and those who paid for their own cigarettes. Age, gender, race, and parental smoking status were not significantly associated with students' reports of smoking at school. These data suggest nicotine dependence as an important contributor to the problem of smoking at school, but not the only reason why students violate school smoking policies. Disciplinary action against students caught violating school smoking policies should be supplemented with an offer of treatment for nicotine dependence.

More than words? The status and impact of smoking policies in Scottish schools.

The aim of this study was to investigate the current status of smoking policies in Scottish schools, and the relationship between policy status, enforcement of smoking restrictions and perceptions of smoking behaviour among pupils and teachers. A representative sample of 15-year-old school pupils from 77 Scottish secondary schools was surveyed in 1998 regarding their perceptions of smoking in several locations within and outside the school building. Two staff members from each school were also surveyed regarding school smoking policies for pupils and teachers, the nature of the school's smoking restrictions, and the extent to which the restrictions were enforced. The results showed that more schools had a written policy on teacher smoking than on pupil smoking. All schools in the sample banned smoking by pupils, but the majority allowed smoking by teachers in restricted areas. Irrespective of the type of policy or restrictions on smoking, pupils reported seeing smoking among both pupils and teachers on school premises in all of the sample schools. Whether or not a school had a written policy appeared to be unrelated to pupil smoking in the toilets or teacher smoking outdoors on school premises. However, pupils were less likely to be aware of pupils smoking outdoors and teachers smoking in the staff rooms in schools where there were written policies on pupil and teacher smoking, respectively. Consistent enforcement of a ban on pupil smoking was associated with lower levels of perceived smoking among pupils. Where a complete ban on teacher smoking existed, smoking among teachers was seen less often in the staff rooms, but more often in outside areas on school premises. The results have implications for the use of policy in promoting a healthy school environment.

School smoking policies and smoking prevalence among adolescents: multilevel analysis of cross-sectional data from Wales

OBJECTIVETo examine the association between school smoking policies and smoking prevalence among pupils.DESIGNMultilevel analysis of cross-sectional data from surveys of schools and pupils.SETTING55 secondary schools in Wales.SUBJECTS55 teachers and 1375...

Toward totally smokefree schools and beyond: the Crown Public Health Smokefree Schools Grant Program.

A three-year small grants scheme in Canterbury and the West Coast, New Zealand aims to influence the health promoting climate of schools by adopting totally smokefree policies. The Smokefree Environments Act of 1990 established the legal imperative for school policies. The principles of the Treaty of Waitangi and the strategies of the Ottawa Charter provide the programmatic and evaluation framework. Evaluation indicators include the organizational and policy context, status of school smoking policies, reasons for participation, stakeholder involvement, the value of additional funding, and the extent of media coverage. Partnerships among local smokefree partners, schools and whanau/communities, and between the health and education sectors are a priority. Interim findings indicate the Crown Public Health Smokefree Schools Grant program has positively influenced policy development toward totally smokefree schools. Based on these results and the changing environment, the smokefree efforts are being integrated into the broader context of health promoting schools.

Evaluation of interventions to reduce smoking: An evaluation of two school-based interventions to reduce smoking prevalence among 8–13 year olds.

This paper reports some of the findings from a large-scale (N = 4970) longitudinal study evaluating the efficacy of two types of school-based intervention designed to discourage cigarette smoking in children between the ages of nine and thirteen. The interventions were in the form of a Theatre in Health Education (THE) programme and a school smoking policy which involved changes in adult behaviour. The research adopted a quasi-experimental design, following children from primary to secondary education where necessary over a period of two and a half years. Five waves of questionnaire data were collected with biochemical markers in the form of saliva samples which served as a “bogus pipeline”. Though absolute levels of smoking were low, the findings indicate a weak positive effect over the longer term of both interventions on smoking behaviour (past and current) for girls but no such effect for boys. Conversely, there was no impact for girls on a measure of intention to smoke, although a small long term effect was found for boys in the Theatre in Health Education intervention group. Effects of the interventions on targeted psychological variables were also minor. Possible reasons for these effects are discussed.

Evaluation of interventions to reduce smoking 1We would like to thank those members of the Eastern Surrey Health Promotion Unit, both past and present, who were involved with this project for their invaluable help and our thanks also go to the Eastern Surrey Health Authority whose funding made this research possible. Our gratitude is due to the Head Teachers and

This paper reports some of the findings from a large-scale (N = 4970) longitudinal study evaluating the efficacy of two types of school-based intervention designed to discourage cigarette smoking in children between the ages of nine and thirteen. The interventions were in the form of a Theatre in Health Education (THE) programme and a school smoking policy which involved changes in adult behaviour. The research adopted a quasi-experimental design, following children from primary to secondary education where necessary over a period of two and a half years. Five waves of questionnaire data were collected with biochemical markers in the form of saliva samples which served as a “bogus pipeline”. Though absolute levels of smoking were low, the findings indicate a weak positive effect over the longer term of both interventions on smoking behaviour (past and current) for girls but no such effect for boys. Conversely, there was no impact for girls on a measure of intention to smoke, although a small long term effect was found for boys in the Theatre in Health Education intervention group. Effects of the interventions on targeted psychological variables were also minor. Possible reasons for these effects are discussed.

Smoking policies in schools

No smoking day is on March 11. But is the message getting across to those who need it - young people? Smoking is actually on the increase in this group. Lee Benke shows why it is important that adults set the correct examples by introducing no-smoking policies in public arenas, particularly in schools

Operational Design and Quality Control in the CATCH Multicenter Trial

Background.The Child and Adolescent Trial for Cardiovascular Health (CATCH) was the first multicenter school-based research study to employ the fundamentals of clinical trials including the standardized protocol and Manuals of Operation, a steering committee for study governance, a distributed data system, an extensive quality control system, and a Data and Safety Monitoring Board.Method.CATCH tested the effectiveness of changes in school lunches, physical education, smoking policy, curricula, and family activities. Ninety-six elementary schools in four states were randomized to intervention or control conditions. The baseline cohort comprised 5,106 ethnically diverse third graders followed through fifth grade.Results.The percentages of calories from fat and saturated fat were reduced significantly more in the intervention school lunches than among the controls. Significant increases in moderate to vigorous activity levels in existing physical education classes were made as well. Changes in self-reported dietary, physical activity, and psychosocial measures were significant. There were no significant differences in the physiological measures. Measurement error was generally low for all physiologic measures except skinfolds, indicating a high level of reliability. Across all sites, the coefficients of variation for lipids, height, and weight were less than 3%, whereas for skinfolds, they were considerably higher, ranging from 6 to 8%. Intraclass correlations for lipid studies were also uniformly high at 0.99. Interobserver agreement scores for SOFIT were greater than 90% for 9 of the 11 activities observed. Data entry error rates were low with less than five errors per 1,000 fields for all forms.Conclusions.The CATCH results provided more scientific evidence on the importance of schools in the population approach to health promotion. Many of the strategies used in this complex multicenter trial in the areas of design and analysis, measurement, training, data management, and quality control protocols might be appropriate for adoption in other studies.

School policy in COMMIT: a promising strategy to reduce smoking by youth.

Organizational smoking policy has been identified as a potentially effective way to influence health behavior, particularly in worksites. Examining the elements of existing school smoking policies for both students and employees can provide insight into the potential effectiveness of these policies in changing young people's smoking behavior. This paper examines selected components of existing school smoking policies in a national sample of schools at all levels of education as part of the Community Intervention Trial for Smoking Cessation. Schools were questioned about their school smoking policies, related resources, and compliance. The data show much variation in the elements of school tobacco use policy to change smoking behavior. Existing policies in schools differ among grade levels, thus providing different messages about the appropriateness of smoking. Policies differ for students and adults, providing another opportunity for confusion about the messages that policy can deliver. In general, resources available to support existing policies are lacking. Many schools offer classes on knowledge of negative health effects of smoking but do not teach the psychosocial skills necessary to resist tobacco use. In its present forms, school policy has great potential for an effective tool for health promotion, but considerable reform is needed to overcome current barriers.

School structural and policy variables associated with student smoking

School of Psychology, Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria, Australia 3217 V Clarke Abstract Objective -To assess the relationships between school structural and smoking policy variables and students' self-re ported smoking. Design Questionnaire data relating to schools were collected from teachers and data relating to self-reported smoking were collected from students. Setting Australian secondary schools. Participants One teacher from each of 347 schools and 26429 students from these schools. Main outcome measure Self-reports of smoking. Results For each school the percentages of students who had smoked in the last week, month, and year were obtained for three groups of students: (a) years 7 and 8, (6) years 9 and 10, and (c) years 11 and 12. For consistency across time periods, reporting was limited to smoking in the last week. Schools varied in the pro portions of students who reported smok ing. School-based variables related to smoking more consistently for the younger students, for whom smoking was more prevalent in schools which were (a) co-educational rather than single-sex, (6) government rather than non-govern ment, (c) had a student representative on the school council, (d) did not have a house system, and (e) did not have a past students' association. For older students smoking prevalence was positively re lated to non-English speaking back ground. For all groups, smoking preva lence was unrelated to (a) school location (rural or urban), (6) school size, (c) means of selecting prefects, (d) student smoking policy, (e) staff smoking policy, (/) staff smoking prevalence, (g) visitor smoking policy, and (h) school no smoking signs. Specialised health edu cation programmes related positively to smoking, probably as these programmes were introduced into the schools with greater smoking prevalences. When the variables which were significant indi vidually were entered into regression analyses to predict smoking there were few significant relationships. ConclusionSchool-based structural and smoking policy variables have minimal association with students' reported smoking behaviour.

An overview of school smoking policies in England and Wales

THE results of the first part of a two-phase study of smoking policies in middle and secondary schools in England and Wales are presented. Information sup plied by the headteachers from a total of 961 schools indicated that 48% had an official policy regarding teachers' smoking, 88% had an official policy regard ing pupils' smoking, and 95% undertook some form of smoking education. The nature of the policies varied greatly and there appeared to be a lack of consistent reasoning behind them. It is hoped that the second phase of the project, involving a detailed study of several selected schools, will provide information on which coherent smoking policies could be based.

The power of policy: the relationship of smoking policy to adolescent smoking.

This study examined the effects of smoking policy on 4,807 adolescents in 23 schools over a two-county area in California. Amounts and prevalence rates of adolescent smoking were measured with a self-report survey and a biochemical measure; school smoking policy was measured with two independent surveys of school staff. Policy effects were evaluated with multiple and logistic regression analyses controlling for school-level socioeconomic status and environmental support for teaching and administration. Of the 23 schools, 100 percent had a formal written and regularly enforced policy component restricting student smoking on school grounds, 94 percent restricted students leaving school grounds, 65 percent restricted smoking near school grounds, and 57 percent had a smoking prevention education plan. Schools with policies having all four versus less than four components, high versus low emphasis on prevention, and a low versus high emphasis on cessation reported lower amounts of smoking in the last week and in the last 24 hours. Punitive consequences of policy violation had no effect. Results were compared to school staff observations of adolescent smoking, and school archival records of student smoking violations in the last year. Results suggest that school smoking policy is associated with decreased amounts of smoking in adolescents.