Smoking cessation for high school students. Impact evaluation of a novel program

This pilot study was designed to evaluate the feasibility and the impact of a smoking-cessation program that would meet the specific needs of high school students. Feedback from focus groups conducted with adolescent smokers at a Connecticut high school was used to develop a tailored intervention. Intervention components included commonly used behavioral strategies, with additional options to assist students to quit smoking, including use of bupropion, concomitant support for parent smoking cessation, stress management, and physician counseling. On completion, 20 of the 22 enrolled students remained committed to quitting. Twenty-seven percent of students quit smoking and 69% of those who continued to smoke reduced the number of cigarettes smoked per day by an average of 13. Providing additional options to students and additional support for concomitant parental cessation may enhance the appeal of adolescent smoking-cessation programs. Further investigation into efficacy of bupropion use for adolescent cessation is warranted.