The relationship between school-based smoking policies and prevention programs on smoking behavior among grade 12 students in Prince Edward Island: a multilevel analysis

Abstract

Purpose: To examine how school-based smoking policies and prevention programs are associated with occasional and regular smoking among a cohort of grade 12 students in Prince Edward Island, Canada, between 1999 and 2001.

Methods: Data from the Tobacco Module of the School Health Action, Planning and Evaluation System (SHAPES) collected from 3,965 grade 12 students in 10 high schools were examined using multi-level regression analysis.

Results: Attending a school with smoking prevention programming was associated with a decreased risk of being an occasional smoker (OR 0.42, 95% CI: 0.18, 0.97). School-based policies banning smoking on school property were associated with a small increased risk of occasional smoking (OR 1.06, 95% CI: 0.67, 1.68) among some students. The combination of both policies and programs was not associated with either occasional or regular smoking.

Conclusion: This preliminary evidence suggests that tailored school-based prevention programming may be effective at reducing smoking uptake; however, school smoking policies and the combination of programs and policies were relatively ineffective. These findings suggest that a new approach to school-based tobacco use prevention may be required.