Brief classroom-based tobacco denormalisation intervention reduces willingness to smoke in French adolescents

Abstract

Background : The present research tests the effectiveness of a tobacco industry denormalisation intervention to reduce smoking in French adolescents. Methods : Participants (N = 2522) were French adolescents (M age = 16.06 years at baseline). Allocation to intervention group (intervention vs. control) was randomised at the school-level. The intervention group received one hour-long intervention in a classroom setting, in which the tactics used by the tobacco industry to recruit young smokers were discussed by a trained interventionist. Willingness to smoke (dichotomous) was assessed before and after the intervention, approximately 6 months apart. Findings : Multi-level modelling indicated that there was a significant interaction effect between intervention group and willingness to smoke over time, b = -1.53, SE = 0.19, p < .001. Separate models for each intervention group revealed that participants were 2.82 more likely to be willing to smoke at the end of testing period in the intervention group, and 12.56 times more likely in the control group, suggesting a buffering effect of the intervention. Discussion : The present research presents promising evidence for the effectiveness of tobacco denormalisation interventions for adolescents. Mediating factors and boundary conditions are discussed.