SMOKING PREVENTION IN HISPANIC ADOLESCENT

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This is a five year proposal, presented in two phases, to develop, implement and evaluate a program aimed primarily at smoking prevention in adolescent Hispanics. The study populations are the predominantly Puerto Rican communities of Hartford, Connecticut and Greater Boston, Massachusetts, including adolescents aged 11-19 years. During Phase I (21 months), activity will focus on the development of an intervention program culturally appropriate for the target adolescent Hispanic population (including a pilot study) and gaining access to selected schools and other community agencies through which the program will be delivered. A feature of this phase is the proposed survey of 700 households in each community (1400 total) which contain at least one eligible adolescent. This survey (including one parent and all eligible adolescents in each household) will not only provide necessary information for program development and content, but also will provide a pool of adolescent collaborators to assist in subsequent program development. Phase II consists of the implementation and evaluation of the program, using random assignment of (pair-matched) schools to intervention and control groups as well as pre- and post-test measures in both groups, to encompass a two-year follow-up. Approximately 600 adolescent subjects will participate. A sophisticated process evaluation approach, developed by the investigators on another bicultural and bilingual community-wide intervention, will be adapted for this field trial. Analyses will focus on comparisons of pre-/post-test changes in smoking behavior between subjects in intervention and control groups.