U of M Program Aims to Help Teens Kick Smoking Habit
For release: May 19, 2004
For press information, contact Gabrielle Maxey

Despite decades of warnings, the majority of American children still experiment with cigarette smoking. By high school, one third of students already smoke regularly. These trends are alarming, because the use of tobacco by adolescents is likely to lead to adult addiction. One recent study found that 84 percent of young people between the ages of 12 and 17 who smoked one pack of cigarettes or more a day felt they were dependent on cigarettes.

Research also indicates that most adolescent smokers want to quit, but are unable to do so by themselves. To assist them, researchers have begun developing programs designed to help teens kick the habit. However, these programs have failed to produce meaningful benefits. One possible explanation is that these programs were created for adults. They may miss important issues teens deal with whey they attempt to break the tobacco habit - what obstacles they face, what sources of help they find, and what motivates them to try to quit.

The University of Memphis' Center for Community Health is investigating ways to help teens quit smoking thanks to a grant of almost $1 million from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). The three-year ACES program (Adolescent Cessation and Evaluation Study) is being led by Dr. Leslie A. Robinson, associate professor of psychology.

The program has three goals: to recruit and survey teen smokers about the quitting process; to expose young smokers to strategies commonly used in cessation programs and ask them whether the components of the programs are relevant to them; and, by using their feedback, to design and implement a program aimed at helping young people quit smoking.

Robinson has worked with the Memphis City Schools and Shelby County Schools for 10 years, implementing more than $6 million in projects aimed at reducing tobacco use by children. So far, 45 teens have been referred to the ACES program.

"We've had incredible support from the school systems," Robinson said. "We've never had a school drop from one of these federally-funded programs. The school personnel want to educate children and see them grow up healthy. They see a vision of a healthier generation."

During the first two years, students will meet one-to-one with a health educator for four sessions, each lasting about 50 minutes. Researchers will use the sessions to gather information about the students' tobacco use, their attempts to quit, and potential strategies that could be used in a cessation program for teens. In the last year, the students will attend a four-session cessation program designed from their feedback.

Teens often face unique barriers to quitting, including peer pressure, Robinson said. "If an adult quits, he's called a hero," she said. "Teenagers don't see a hero. There's no positive feedback."

It also appears that teens become physiologically addicted to tobacco very quickly, Robinson said.

Tobacco use is the leading cause of serious illness and death in the United States. The majority of adult smokers took up the habit before they were 18. If present tobacco use trends continue, studies project that 5 million Americans under age 17 will become smokers and will die prematurely of a smoking-related illnesses.

Robinson holds a doctorate in clinical psychology from the U of M. An expert in the field of adolescent and young adult smoking, she directs research programs concerning tobacco use in young people and has published many articles on the topic.

For more information, contact Robinson at 901-678-1667 or Susan Jackson, project coordinator, at 901-678-151.

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