As a national debate continues on how to reduce adolescent tobacco use, a study being conducted by College of Education
researchers this fall aims to provide important new information that will be used to develop a program to help teens kick the
harmful habit. 

The study, led by Laura McCormick, assistant professor in the Department of Health Promotion and Behavior, will survey
10th and 11th grade high school students in up to four school systems to provide information to be used in developing smoking
cessation programs specifically for teenagers. 

McCormick explains, “The project is important because there is little information available on effective strategies to help
adolescents quit smoking. The few programs that are available are based on adult models and have not had encouraging
results.” 

New smoking cessation programs for adolescents could make a difference in the 20 to 30 percent of teenagers who regularly
smoke, are likely to become addicted, continue smoking into adulthood and suffer the health consequences associated with
smoking. The study will assess the manner in which adolescent smokers maintain smoking behaviors and attempt to quit
smoking. 

Self-reports from 2,500 students in Georgia and Alabama will be collected anonymously and validated through the use of
saliva samples collected and analyzed for cotinene from a subset of the study population at the time of the survey administration.

Based upon analysis of these data this winter and next spring, the research team will work with selected schools to develop
and pilot-test smoking cessation interventions by Fall, 1999. 
 Funding for the study came from a five-year, $500,000 grant from the National Cancer Institute.