title: Randomized trials on consider this, a tailored, internet-delivered smoking prevention program for adolescents.
abstract: The Internet may be an effective medium for delivering smoking prevention to children. Consider This, an Internet-based program, was hypothesized to reduce expectations concerning smoking and smoking prevalence. Group-randomized pretest-posttest controlled trials were conducted in Australia (n = 2,077) and the United States (n = 1,234) in schools containing Grades 6 through 9. Australian children using Consider This reported reduced 30-day smoking prevalence. This reduction was mediated by decreased subjective norms. The amount of program exposure was low in many classes, but program use displayed a dose-response relationship with reduced smoking prevalence. American children only reported lower expectations for smoking in the future. Intervening to prevent smoking is a challenge, and this data suggest small benefits from an Internet-based program that are unlikely to be of practical significance unless increased by improved implementation. Implementation remains the major challenge to delivering interventions via the Internet, both for health educators and researchers.
authors.affiliation: The Cancer Council Victoria, Carlton South,Victoria, Australia. dbuller@kleinbuendel.com
authors.forename: David B
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Buller
authors.forename: Ron
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Borland
authors.forename: W Gill
authors.initials: WG
authors.lastname: Woodall
authors.forename: John R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Hall
authors.forename: Joan M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Hines
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Burris-Woodall
authors.forename: Gary R
authors.initials: GR
authors.lastname: Cutter
authors.forename: Caroline
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Miller
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Balmford
authors.forename: Randall
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Starling
authors.forename: Bryan
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ax
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Saba
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001315:Australia; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003469:Culture; D005260:Female; D006266:Health Education / Q000379:methods*; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D008297:Male; D015337:Multicenter Studies as Topic; D015397:Program Evaluation; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D000074606:Smoking Prevention; D014481:United States