Sources of information on the health effects of environmental tobacco smoke among African-American children and adolescents

Purpose: To determine the common sources of information regarding the effects of smoking on health and their relationship to knowledge, attitudes, and preventative efforts regarding exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) among urban African-American children and adolescents. Methods: All students who were enrolled in Grades 5-12 in an urban public school district located in the greater metropolitan area of Detroit, Michigan were surveyed using a structured, written questionnaire that assessed sources of information on the health effects of smoking, as well as knowledge, attitudes, and preventive efforts with respect to exposure to ETS. The primary analytic procedures utilized in the study were correlation analysis and analysis of variance. Results: The African-American students surveyed in this study received information regarding the health effects of smoking from many sources, most notably television, family, and teachers. Second, students who received information on the effects of smoking on health from family and external sources (teacher, parent's friend, and religious leader) had higher overall knowledge, attitude, and preventive efforts scores than students who received information from other sources (friends, electronic media, and printed media). Finally, family influence was greater when parents were not smokers, and influenced elementary students more than middle school or high school students. Conclusions: The active involvement of teachers, religious leaders, parents, and other influential adults should be elicited in tobacco education and prevention efforts to maximize their effectiveness. (C) Society for Adolescent Medicine, 2001.