Adolescent health brief
Pilot test of an Internet virtual world chat room for rural teen smokers

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Abstract

Overview: This pilot study evaluated the acceptability and efficacy of an Internet-based virtual reality “world” for teen smoking cessation. Rural teens at six school sites interacted in real-time in the virtual world with a trained cessation counselor and other teen smokers over a 2-month period in seven 1-hour chat sessions. The cessation counselor used motivational interviewing, a “client-centered” nonconfrontational approach to behavior change that has shown promise with behaviors resistant to change. Smoking behavior and attitudes were assessed at baseline, after intervention, and at 1-month follow-up. Significant changes were found in quitting, amount smoked, and intentions to quit. Positive trends were seen in past-week abstinence rates, quit attempts, and attitudes toward quitting.

Section snippets

Design

This pilot study evaluated the acceptability and efficacy of a virtual world chat room, called Breathing Room, using a one-group, before-and-after, design. Variables of interest, described in more detail below, included changes in self-reported behaviors and attitudes related to smoking and cessation.

Sample

Participants were 26 high-risk youth attending six small rural alternative schools owing to poor academic performance or behavioral problems or both. There were two recruitment procedures: (a)

Results

Analysis of 26 initial participants showed that the group was diverse and that the members were fairly heavy smokers (average of 6–10 cigarettes a day). The average age was 15 years, with a range from 13 to 17 years. Sixty-six percent were male and 34% were female. White non-Hispanics made up 55% of the sample, Hispanics made up 28%, and those from other ethnic groups made up 17%. Analysis of baseline smoking variables showed that the mean age of onset of regular smoking was 12 years. More than

Discussion

Results of this pilot study indicate that a counselor-facilitated virtual world chat room approach for smoking cessation is feasible and acceptable among high-risk rural teen smokers. Smokers volunteered for the study, participated at adequate levels, and rated the approach positively. Even more noteworthy, the participants showed changes in self-reported behavior and attitudes, although not all changes were statistically significant partly owing to lack of statistical power. Positive changes

Acknowledgements

We gratefully acknowledge the valuable contribution of the Mt. Empire School District and especially Pat Kerr. This research was supported by grant 71T-0089 from the University of California Tobacco-related Disease Research Program.

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