The association between smoke-free school policies and adolescents' anti-smoking beliefs: Moderation by family smoking norms

Intervention Activities Associated with the Implementation of a Comprehensive School Tobacco Policy at Danish Vocational Schools: A Repeated Cross-Sectional Study

School tobacco policies are often poorly implemented, which may explain their limited effectiveness. Further, constructs to measure implementation outcomes of school tobacco policies are missing. The Smoke-Free Vocational Schools intervention was designed to stimulate the implementation of a comprehensive school tobacco policy into routine practice. This study (1) developed implementation fidelity outcomes measures for the school tobacco policy and (2) examined associations between intervention activities and implementation fidelity at two time points. We applied a repeated cross-sectional survey study design across seven schools: the first time point was >5 months after the policy was established and the second time point > 14 months after policy establishment. The dependent/outcome variables were four binary fidelity domains as well as a total score across domains. A total of six intervention activities were measured among either students (e.g., new school-break facilities) or staff/managers (e.g., a joint workshop before policy implementation). Associations were analyzed separately for students and staff/managers using generalized linear mixed models, adjusted for confounders. A total of n = 2674 students and n = 871 staff/managers participated. The total implementation fidelity scores increased over time among both students and staff/managers. Three intervention activities were consistently associated with the total implementation fidelity score, including: new school-break facilities (B_T1 = 0.08, 95% CI = 0.03; 0.12; B_T2 = 0.07, 95% CI = 0.04-0.50), the joint workshop before policy implementation (B_T1 = 0.13, 95% CI = 0.02; 0.25; B_T2 = 0.13, 95% CI = 0.004; 0.24), and internalization of fixed procedures for enforcement (B_T1 = 0.19, 95% CI = 0.13-0.26; B_T2 = 0.16, 95% CI = 0.13-0.26). These findings can be applied by schools and other actors in practice. The developed implementation fidelity outcomes measures can be applied in future research on school tobacco policies.

Relationships between ENDS-Related Familial Factors and Oral Health among Adolescents in the United States

The influence of familial and social environments plays a significant role in Electronic Nicotine Delivery System (ENDS) use and may contribute to poor oral health among adolescents. This study utilized the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) database and included youths aged 12 to 17 years who reported no history of dental health issues at baseline. Adjusted odds ratios (AOR) were used to examine the association between END-related familial factors and oral health among adolescents in the United States, with statistical significance set at p < 0.05. The sample consisted of 3892 adolescents (weighted N = 22,689,793). Parents’ extremely negative reaction towards ENDS when they found their children using ENDS (AOR = 0.309) was connected to a lower risk of oral health issues. The findings suggest that clinicians and policymakers need to consider the roles of these factors when developing strategies to improve oral health outcomes.

Smokers' responses to being addressed when smoking in an outdoor voluntary smoke-free zone: An observational study

INTRODUCTION

Addressing smokers who smoke in a voluntary smoke-free area is vital to its successful implementation. Many people perceive barriers in addressing smokers due to fear of negative responses. Insights in actual responses are currently lacking.

METHODS

This is an observational field study at the voluntary smoke-free zone surrounding the Erasmus MC and two schools in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. In the first month after implementing the zone, Erasmus MC representatives performed rounds to address smokers who were smoking inside the zone. Four people observed addressors for two weeks then they also addressed the smokers. Smokers were classified as employees, patients, students, or other. We noted whether smokers were addressed directly or indirectly, and their verbal and behavioral responses to being addressed. Differences between the responses of the groups were assessed using chi-squared tests.

RESULTS

In all, 331 smokers were observed of whom 73% were addressed directly. Most verbal reactions were positive (46%) or neutral (18%). Employees were more likely to respond guiltily, whereas patients more often responded angrily than the others. After being addressed, the majority of smokers either extinguished their cigarette (41%) or left to continue smoking outside the smoke-free zone (34%).

CONCLUSIONS

Most smokers showed a positive or neutral response when being addressed about smoking inside the smoke-free zone and the majority adapted their behavior to comply with the policy. These findings may help decrease barriers for those in doubt about addressing smokers that fail to comply with a smoke-free policy.

Smoking cessation among adolescents in Europe: The role of school policy and programmes

INTRODUCTION

European estimates of adolescent smoking cessation are lacking and studies on the role of schools in quit behaviour are scarce. We aimed to describe smoking cessation attempts and success among adolescents in Europe and explored the association with school policy and programmes.

METHODS

We used cross-sectional data from the 2013 and 2016-2017 surveys of the European SILNE and SILNE-R projects. We included 4,509 12-19-year-old current or ex-smokers in 67 secondary schools in seven countries (Belgium, Germany, Finland, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, and Portugal). School staff reported strength of smoke-free school policies (SFSPs), proportion of grades in which anti-tobacco education was offered, and whether the school offered any form of cessation support programme. Multilevel logistic regression analysis determined school-level variation and the association of school-level and individual-level variables with self-reported and self-defined quit attempts and quit success.

RESULTS

Over three quarters (77.3%) of students reported a quit attempt and half of them (50.1%) reported quit success. Prevalence rates of quit success and quit attempts, showed relatively small variations between schools within countries. Associations of smoke-free school policy, tobacco educational programmes and cessation programmes with quit attempts and quit success could not be demonstrated with statistical significance. Quit attempts and quit success were inversely associated with alcohol use, parental smoking, and friend smoking.

CONCLUSION

This study demonstrates that adolescence is an important time to encourage quitting and to support quit attempts. We did not find evidence for a contribution of school policies and programmes to quit behaviour of adolescent smokers.

Impact of an inner-city smoke-free zone on outdoor smoking patterns: a before-after study

Introduction

On September 2, 2019, Rotterdam’s first inner-city outdoor smoke-free zone encompassing the Erasmus MC, a large university hospital in the Netherlands, the Erasmiaans high school, the Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences and the public road in between, was implemented.

Aims and Methods

We aimed to assess spatiotemporal patterning of smoking before and after implementation of this outdoor smoke-free zone. We performed a before–after observational field study. We systematically observed the number of smokers, and their locations and characteristics over 37 days before and after implementation of the smoke-free zone.

Results

Before implementation of the smoke-free zone, 4098 people smoked in the area every weekday during working hours. After implementation, the daily number of smokers was 2241, a 45% reduction (p = .007). There was an increase of 432 smokers per day near and just outside the borders of the zone. At baseline, 31% of the smokers were categorized as employee, 22% as student and 3% as patient. Following implementation of the smoke-free zone, the largest decreases in smokers were observed among employees (–67%, p value .004) and patients (–70%, p value .049). Before and after implementation, 21 and 20 smokers were visibly addressed and asked to smoke elsewhere.

Conclusions

Implementation of an inner-city smoke-free zone was associated with a substantial decline in the number of smokers in the zone and an overall reduction of smoking in the larger area. Further research should focus on optimizing implementation of and compliance with outdoor smoke-free zones.

Implications

A smoke-free outdoor policy has the potential to denormalize and discourage smoking, support smokers who want to quit, and to protect people from secondhand smoke exposure. Implementation of an inner-city smoke-free zone encompassing a large tertiary hospital and two educational institutions was associated with a substantial decline in the number of smokers in the zone, as well as in the larger area. Voluntary outdoor smoke-free zones can help reduce the number of smokers in the area and protect people from secondhand smoke. There is a need to explore effectiveness of additional measures to further improve compliance.

The Association Between Smoke-Free School Policies and Adolescents' Perceived Antismoking Norms: Moderation by School Connectedness

Introduction

Many European schools implement smoke-free school policies (SFSPs). SFSPs may decrease adolescent smoking by causing adolescents to perceive stronger antismoking norms, yet there exists no quantitative evidence that indicates for which norms and for whom such effects may occur. This study therefore assessed to what extent adolescents’ perceived antismoking norms among best friends, teachers, and society at large were associated with SFSPs, and whether these associations were moderated by adolescents’ level of school connectedness.

Aims and Methods

Survey data were collected in 2016/2017 on 10,653 adolescents aged 14–16 years old and 315 staff members in 55 schools from seven European cities. Associations of adolescent-perceived SFSPs and staff-reported SFSPs with best friend, teacher, and societal antismoking norms were estimated in multilevel logistic regression models, adjusted for demographics and school-level smoking prevalence. We tested for interaction between school connectedness and SFSPs.

Results

Adolescent-perceived SFSPs were positively associated with antismoking norms by teachers (odds ratio [OR]: 1.46, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.15–1.85), were negatively associated with antismoking norms by best friends (OR: 0.81, 95% CI: 0.67–0.99), but were not significantly associated with antismoking norms by society at large (OR: 0.87, 95% CI: 0.74–1.02). All interaction tests between adolescent-perceived SFSPs and school connectedness were nonsignificant. Staff-reported SFSPs were not associated with any norm and showed no significant interaction with school connectedness.

Conclusions

We found that SFSPs are associated with adolescents’ perception of more antismoking norms by teachers, but less antismoking norms by best friends, irrespective of adolescents’ level of school connectedness.

Implications

Smoke-free school policies, just as many other tobacco control policies, are assumed to foster adolescents’ perception of antismoking norms. Still, current evidence does not demonstrate which antismoking norms may be influenced by SFSPs and whether this influence is equal for adolescents with different levels of school connectedness. This study suggests that SFSPs foster adolescents’ perception of antismoking norms by teachers, but may concurrently lead to the perception of less antismoking norms by best friends, irrespective of adolescents’ school connectedness. SFSPs may therefore need to be complemented with interventions that target antismoking norms in adolescent peer groups.

Programme theory and realist evaluation of the 'Smoke-Free Vocational Schools' research and intervention project: a study protocol

INTRODUCTION

Smoke-free school hours (SFSHs) entails a smoking ban during school hours and might be an effective intervention to reduce the high smoking prevalence in vocational schools. For SFSH to be effective, the policy must be adequately implemented and enforced; this challenge for schools constitutes a research gap. The 'Smoke-Free Vocational Schools' research and intervention project has been developed to facilitate schools' implementation of SFSH. It is scheduled to run from 2018 to 2022, with SFSH being implemented in 11 Danish vocational schools. This study protocol describes the intervention project and evaluation design of the research and intervention project.

METHODS AND ANALYSIS

The intervention project aims to develop an evidence-based model for implementing SFSH in vocational schools and similar settings. The project is developed in a collaboration between research and practice. Two public health NGOs are responsible for delivering the intervention activities in schools, while the research partner evaluates what works, for whom, and under what circumstances. The intervention lasts one year per school, targeting different socioecological levels. During the first 6 months, activities are delivered to stimulate organisational readiness to implement SFSH. Then, SFSH is established, and during the next 6 months, activities are delivered to stimulate implementation of SFSH into routine practice. The epistemological foundation is realistic evaluation. The evaluation focuses on both implementation and outcomes. Process evaluation will determine the level of implementation and explore what hinders or enables SFSH becoming part of routine practice using qualitative and quantitative methods. Outcomes evaluation will quantitively assess the intervention's effectiveness, with the primary outcome measure being changes in smoking during school hours.

ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION

Informed consent will be obtained from study participants according to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and Danish data protection law. The study adheres to Danish ethics procedures. Study findings will be disseminated at conferences and further published in open-access peer-reviewed journals.

[The association between school tobacco policies and the perceived smoking prevalence of adolescents]

BACKGROUND

In the German context, there is hardly any quantitative data about the implementation of school tobacco polices that include the perspective of both teachers and students. The aim of the study is to investigate the associations between implemented school tobacco policies and the perceived prevalence of smoking at the level of school staff and adolescents.

METHODS

The repeated cross-sectional study (2013 and 2017) is based on pooled responses of 13- to 17-year-old adolescents (N = 2393) and school staff (N = 85) from 25 schools located in the West German metropolitan region of Hanover. In linear regression models, average marginal effects (AMEs) with 95% confidence intervals (CI95%) and robust standard errors for perceived tobacco prevalence are reported separately for school tobacco policies assessed by teachers and students (scale 0-6). All models were controlled for sociodemographic, school-, and smoking-specific covariates.

RESULTS

On average, adolescents perceive a smoking prevalence of 30% ([Formula: see text]; s: 24.0) for their school. A comprehensive school tobacco policy is consistently associated with lower school smoking prevalence both from the point of view of teachers (AME: -3.54 CI95% -6.49 to -0.58) and students (AME: -1.69 CI95% -2.52 to -0.86). The number of smoking friends (e.g., "most of them are smokers" +14%: AME: 14.13 CI95% 10.46 to 17.80) and the type of school are the most relevant determinants of a high school smoking prevalence. School types with a nonacademic track report a 15% (AME: 15.03 CI95% 10.13 to 19.93) higher prevalence compared to grammar schools.

DISCUSSION

Progressive school tobacco control policies should focus more on school types with nonacademic tracks, certain groups at risk, and those schools that do not strictly enforce school tobacco policies.

Using the realist approach to unravel the complexity of health programmes: the evaluation of smoke-free school policies as a case study

Numerous commentaries plea for the use of methods that take into account complexity when evaluating health programmes. These commentaries provide compelling arguments on why evaluations of health programmes should not rely exclusively on methods that were designed for making universal claims about whether and to what extent a policy is effective. However, there exist only few concrete examples showing how to take this complexity into account during the evaluation of health programmes. One increasingly popular approach to do so is the realist approach. In this paper, we explain the realist approach for taking into account complexity, discuss how we applied this approach to study the impact of smoke-free school policies and reflect on the practical value of the resultant insights. We hope this case study may inspire fellow scholars to use the realist approach for evaluating health programmes.