An Adult Communication Skills Program to Prevent Adolescent Smoking

Abstract

To prevent cigarette smoking among adolescents, communication skills workshops were developed to teach adults how to help young people make responsible decisions and resist peer influences. Workshops were conducted with 125 parents, teachers, and other adults. They were evaluated through a one-year follow-up survey of participants to assess knowledge and use of skills and a behavioral comparison of adolescent smoking initiation between an area receiving a high intensity of workshops and an area of lower intensity. Results indicated participants were mostly mothers, 66 percent of those surveyed one year after the workshop reported use of skills five or more times in the past month, and significantly fewer adolescents in the high intensity area initiated cigarette smoking than in the other area ( p = .0031). While the study had design limitations, it suggested that adult communication skills training may have an impact on adolescent smoking and other problem behaviors.