A media-based campaign to encourage personal communication among adolescents about not smoking cigarettes: participation, selection and consequences

Abstract

Theory suggests that mass media will be more effective if they stimulate interpersonal communication, and research suggests that adolescent smoking is related to the attitudes and behavior of their peers. In this research, adolescents were identified through television and radio broadcasts of a sweepstakes offer and then recruited to contact their friends personally about not smoking. About 18% of adolescents 12–15 years of age participated in areas that received theinterventions. Areas that had both television and radio broadcasts, compared to those with only radio broadcasts, had the most participants. Whites, females, younger adolescents, or those who did not intend to smoke in the future were more likely to participate than nonwhites, males, older adolescents, or those who did intend to smoke. No participation effects were revealed by postcampaign comparisons of the attitudes and behaviors of participants and nonparticipants.