Development of UP2UTobacco for High School Youth

Summary

Tobacco use is increasing among youth in the U.S. However evidence for the long-term effectiveness of tobacco cessation programs for youth is limited. The current study seeks to adapt and evaluate a universal group-based youth brief tobacco intervention for 9th grade students.

This study will use a sequential, multi-method research design beginning with qualitative roundtable discussions with 9th grade students to adapt an existing young adult brief tobacco intervention for youth. Roundtable discussions with students will identify salient intervention themes and strategies for targeting the intervention and developing the text messages. The second phase of the study evaluates the brief intervention, UP2UTobacco, through a cluster randomized controlled trial that compares UP2UTobacco to a no treatment control. It is hypothesized that the UP2UTobacco will produce greater abstinence at the 6-month follow-up compared to the no treatment control.

Roughly 90% of daily smokers started before the age of 18, and 2,000 youth smoke a cigarette for the first time each day in the U.S. Additionally, e-cigarette use is on the rise among youth, and is linked to cigarette initiation among tobacco naïve youth. In order to curb the rise of tobacco use among youth, interventions that are easily implemented and easily disseminated need to be developed for youth addressing currently available products and contemporary patterns of use. If the interventions in the current study are proven efficacious, they can easily be disseminated to other schools to continue reducing youth tobacco use.

Conditions

• Tobacco Use Cessation
• Tobacco Use
• Electronic Cigarette Use

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

UP2UTobacco

The universal prevention program was designed as a group intervention to include components of effective tobacco control programs for youth and young adults. The intervention lasts approximately 45 minutes and is delivered in a classroom setting, utilizing a Socratic teaching style and evoking participation using the principles of motivational interviewing. UP2UTobacco targets all tobacco products with the goals to enhance motivation for youth to quit tobacco or remain tobacco-free, reduce intentions to use tobacco, promote peer discussions around the impact of using tobacco, and correct cognitive misperceptions around tobacco use.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth

  collaborator OTHER

• University of Virginia

  lead OTHER

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

NONE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

14 Years

Max Age

15 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2022-04-04

Primary Completion

2025-05-31

Completion

2026-02-28

Countries

• United States

Study Locations