Pilot evaluation of a media literacy program for tobacco prevention targeting early adolescents shows mixed results.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this pilot study was to assess the impact of media literacy for tobacco prevention for youth delivered through a community site. DESIGN: A randomized pretest-posttest evaluation design with matched-contact treatment and control conditions. SETTING: The pilot study was delivered through the YMCA in a lower-income suburban and rural area of Southwest Virginia, a region long tied, both economically and culturally, to the tobacco industry. SUBJECTS: Children ages 8 to 14 (76% white, 58% female) participated in the study (n = 38). INTERVENTION: The intervention was an antismoking media literacy program (five 1-hour lessons) compared with a matched-contact creative writing control program. MEASURES: General media literacy, three domains of tobacco-specific media literacy ("authors and audiences," "messages and meanings," and "representation and reality"), tobacco attitudes, and future expectations were assessed. ANALYSIS: Multiple regression modeling assessed the impact of the intervention, controlling for pretest measures, age, and sex. RESULTS: General media literacy and tobacco-specific "authors and audiences" media literacy improved significantly for treatment compared with control (p < .05); results for other tobacco-specific media literacy measures and for tobacco attitudes were not significant. Future expectations of smoking increased significantly for treatment participants ages 10 and younger (p < .05). CONCLUSION: Mixed results indicated that improvements in media literacy are accompanied by an increase in future expectations to smoke for younger children.