A preliminary study of the use of peer support in smoking cessation programs for pregnant adolescents

Abstract

This article describes preliminary findings of an experimental, randomized, three-group, controlled design examining the effectiveness of a smoking cessation intervention for pregnant teens. The three groups are: Teen FreshStart with a buddy program (TFSB), a Teen FreshStart program (TFS) without peer support, and the Usual Care (UC) control group. Forty-six subjects completed the post-intervention assessment of smoking status. The TFSB group consistently achieved greater smoking cessation across all measures when compared to the subjects in the other two groups. These results indicate that the use of peer support may be an effective adjunct in smoking cessation programs for pregnant adolescents.

PIP: It is estimated that smoking is related to 419,000 deaths per year in the US, with smokers losing an average of 15 years off their life expectancy. Results from two national surveys of high school students indicate that the level of cigarette smoking by teenagers increased from 19% in 1993 to 25.7% in 1996. This paper describes a multicomponent smoking cessation intervention for adolescents. The literature on adolescent smoking suggests that peers influence individual adolescent smoking status. The intervention was of experimental, randomized, 3-group, controlled design involving 84 unmarried pregnant women aged 12-20 years recruited from local prenatal clinics and public schools. The women were 4-28 weeks pregnant, 63% Black, and 37% White. Participants were randomized to one of the following groups: Teen FreshStart with a buddy program (TFSB), a Teen FreshStart program (TFS) without peer support, and the Usual Care (UC) control group. The TFS program is a standardized cognitive behavioral group model developed by the American Cancer Society specifically for adolescents. 46 subjects completed both the baseline and post-intervention assessments of smoking status. The TFSB group consistently achieved greater smoking cessation across all measures when compared to the subjects in the other two groups. These results therefore suggest that the use of peer support may help yield successful results from smoking cessation programs targeted to pregnant adolescents.