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Evaluation of the North Carolina Risk Reduction Program for Smoking and Alcohol
Author(s) -
Dignan Mark B.,
Block Geoffrey D.,
Steckler Allan,
Cosby Meredith
Publication year - 1985
Publication title -
journal of school health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.851
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 1746-1561
pISSN - 0022-4391
DOI - 10.1111/j.1746-1561.1985.tb04090.x
Subject(s) - environmental health , alcohol education , alcohol , alcohol abuse , health education , rural area , south carolina , medicine , psychology , public health , demography , medical education , psychiatry , political science , nursing , sociology , biochemistry , chemistry , public administration , pathology
Seventh grade students in two school systems in rural North Carolina were subjects for a program designed to reduce health risks associated with use/abuse of tobacco and alcohol. One school system was located in the central area of the state, and the other in the western mountains. Both groups were assessed before and after introduction of novel teaching programs dealing with alcohol and tobacco. Knowledge about smoking and alcohol increased in both sites (p < .05). Attitudes toward alcohol did not change. Attitudes toward smoking eroded in both sites, with attitudes at one site showing a severe erosion (p < .05). Smoking education in these communities may have conflicted strongly with ambient attitudes toward smoking, eliciting a “boomerang” effect.