The influence of a family program on adolescent tobacco and alcohol use

Objectives. This study examined a family-directed program's effectiveness i n preventing adolescent tobacco and alcohol use in a general population. Methods. Adolescents aged 12 to 14 years and their families were identified by random-digit dialing throughout the contiguous United States. After pro viding baseline data by telephone interviews, they were randomly allocated to receive or not receive a family-directed program featuring mailed bookle ts and telephone contacts by health educators. Follow-up telephone intervie ws were conducted 3 and 12 months after program completion. Results. The findings suggested that smoking onset was reduced by 16.4% at I year, with a 25.0% reduction for non-Hispanic Whites but no statistically significant program effect for other races/ethnicities. There were no stat istically significant program effects for smokeless tobacco or alcohol use onset. Conclusions. The family-directed program was associated with reduced smokin g onset for non-Hispanic Whites, suggesting that it is worthy of further ap plication, development, and evaluation.