Abstract:
The smoking rate among male high school students was found to be quite high, therefore to
reduce smoking it is necessary to use appropriate measures relevant to the students characteristics. This
quasi-experimental research aimed to study the effectiveness of a smoking cessation program on the
change of smoking behavior among 31 grade 7-12 male students. A one-group pretest-posttest design
was employed and the program activities were organized by applying the concept of self-efficacy in
accordance with the stage-of-change theory. The program lasted for 16 weeks and the data were
collected before and after the program by using the questionnaires and self-administered behavior
record forms. Data analysis was done by computing statistics in regard with frequency, percentage,
arithmetic means and paired sample t-test.
The research results showed that the smoking cessation proportion of the sampled male
students was found to increas in accordance with the stages-of-change theory as follows. At the end of
the first stage: precontemplation, 3.2 percent of the male students intended and decided to quit smoking,
whereas this percentage increased to 12.9 at the end of the second stage, the contemplation stage and
3.2 percent had started quitting smoking. The percentage of those who decided to quit smoking was
found to be increased to 29.0 in the third stage, the ready for action stage, and 9.7 percent had successly
quit smoking. The result of the behavior assessment in the 12th week of the program at the fifth stage,
maintenance, showed that 22.6 percent had quit smoking and 22.3 percent had reduced the amount of
cigarettes smoked. At the end of the program, the 16th week, 90.3 percent of the students had quit
smoking, while 9.7 percent did not change their smoking behavior but had reduced the amount of
cigarettes smoked. A significant increas of the mean scores was found between the before and after of
the program in regard to perceived self-efficacy to quit smoking, outcome expectation from smoking
cessation, and smoking behavior (p<0.001).
In applying this smoking cessation program for male students in schools of a similar context,
teachers should be responsible for having all students participate in every session of the program
activities, coordinating directly with the students and participating in planning and taking care of
students. The research duration should be extended to 16 weeks in accordance with the stages-of-change
theory as well as allowing additional time for follow-up smoking cessation behavior after the end of the
experiment in order to get clear behavioral change assessment