Smoking patterns in Oregon youth: effects of funding and defunding of a comprehensive state tobacco control program.

PURPOSE: Comprehensive tobacco control programs have included school-based prevention programs as a key strategy to reach adolescents. Unfortunately, these programs have undergone extensive budget reductions in recent years. In 2003, funding for the Oregon Tobacco Prevention and Education Program was reduced by about 70%, and the school component was entirely defunded. To assess the effects of program funding and subsequent defunding on smoking prevalence within targeted Oregon schools, we compared the change in 30-day smoking prevalence between grades 8 and 11 in school districts in two periods: namely, during funding and after funding was eliminated. METHODS: We used annual school-based survey data for grades 8 and 11 to describe district-level changes in smoking prevalence in five age cohorts: two during the funding period and three after defunding. Each cohort was comprised of districts whose 8th-graders completed the survey and participated again 3 years later. Using mixed models, we compared the change in 30-day adjusted smoking prevalence among cohorts in funded districts, defunded districts, and districts that never received funding. RESULTS: Smoking prevalence growth was significantly higher among cohorts from the defunded period than for cohorts from the funded period (p=.04) and was not significantly different from schools that were never-funded (p=.79). CONCLUSIONS: In Oregon, funding a school component of a comprehensive tobacco control strategy was associated with depressed uptake of smoking. Gains were quickly lost upon program defunding. School programs are an important strategy if they are long term, comprehensive, and reinforced in the larger environment.

Reducing HIV and partner violence risk among women with criminal justice system involvement: a randomized controlled trial of two motivational interviewing-based interventions.

Women with histories of incarceration show high levels of risk for HIV and intimate partner violence (IPV). This randomized controlled trial with women at risk for HIV who had recent criminal justice system involvement (n = 530) evaluated two interventions based on Motivational Interviewing to reduce either HIV risk or HIV and IPV risk. Baseline and 3, 6, and 9-month follow-up assessments measured unprotected intercourse, needle sharing, and IPV. Generalized estimating equations revealed that the intervention groups had significant decreases in unprotected intercourse and needle sharing, and significantly greater reductions in the odds and incidence rates of unprotected intercourse compared to the control group. No significant differences were found in changes in IPV over time between the HIV and IPV group and the control group. Motivational Interviewing-based HIV prevention interventions delivered by county health department staff appear helpful in reducing HIV risk behavior for this population.

The protective influence of spirituality and "Health-as-a-Value" against monthly substance use among adolescents varying in risk.

PURPOSE: To investigate the influence of two potentially protective factors, Health-as-a-Value and spirituality, on monthly alcohol, cigarette, and marijuana use in two multiethnic groups of adolescents varying in risk. METHODS: Three-hundred-eighty-two students from continuation/alternative high school, a population considered at risk for drug use, participated in the study. The other sample of 260 students was drawn from a medical magnet high school, and is considered to be at lower risk. Similar surveys containing measures of spirituality, "Health-as-a-Value," and monthly substance use, were distributed. Logistic regression analyses were performed. RESULTS: The analyses revealed that spirituality was protective against monthly alcohol use and marijuana use in the lower risk sample. In the higher risk sample, spirituality was protective against all monthly use. "Health-as-a-Value" (HAV) was protective against monthly alcohol use in the low risk sample, and protective against all monthly use in the higher risk sample. Importantly, when both constructs were entered into the same model, spirituality and HAV were independently protective of all monthly use for the higher risk sample and of monthly alcohol use in the lower risk sample. CONCLUSIONS: These findings extend earlier work on protective factors. "Health-as-a-Value" and spirituality may be protective against substance use in environments with different levels of use. Future studies should explore these findings in longitudinal analyses.

Independent evaluation of the California Tobacco Control Program: relationships between program exposure and outcomes, 1996-1998.

OBJECTIVES: This study sought to determine the effects of the California Tobacco Control Program on tobacco-related attitudes and behaviors. METHODS: In 1996 and 1998, a telephone survey was conducted among adults in randomly selected households in 18 California counties. Tenth-grade youths in 84 randomly selected high schools completed a written survey. In analyses conducted at the county level, differences in outcomes were regressed on an index of program exposure. RESULTS: Among adults, program exposure was associated with decreased smoking prevalence rates, increased no-smoking policies in homes, and decreased violations of workplace no-smoking policies. Among youths, there was no effect of program exposure on outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that the California Tobacco Control Program may have reduced adult smoking prevalence rates and exposure to environmental tobacco smoke.