Abstract:
The purpose of this quasi-experimental research was to examine the effectiveness of the smoking prevention program for early males adolescent in foster homes for boys. The participants (N=84), were young boys, aged 10-14, residing in a foster home, namely The Home for Boys located in Metro Politan Bangkok and the vicinity. Each home was randomly assigned to either an experimental or a comparison group. The qualified participants were then randomly selected into experimental and comparison groups (n=42 each).The Social Cognitive Theory was used as the conceptual basis for the smoking prevention program. The program included three learning activities: (i) analysis of the risk environment, and to find the way to prevent smoking by group work, (ii) learning success from practicing refusal skills, when being persuaded to smoke, observing the experience of successful models, and (iii) raising awareness about the negative effects of smoking through video. The duration of the study was seven (7) consecutive weeks. Then, the participants were assessed on the effects of the program in terms of expectation outcomes of non-smoking, selfefficacy in prevention smoking, and the smoking prevention behaviors. Data were collected and analyzed using descriptive statistics (e.g. percentage, mean, and standard deviation). In addition to using chi-square and t-test, two-way repeated measures ANOVA was used in conjunction with post hoc Bonferrony correction. The results showed that the experimental group had a mean score of expectation outcomes of non-smoking significantly higher than the comparison group (p<0.05). Likewise, they had a mean score of the self-efficacy in smoking prevention significantly higher than that of the comparison group (p<0.05). In summary, the findings support the focus on intervention for smoking prevention. The application of a smoking prevention program for youths in the boys foster homes can raise the expectation outcomes of non-smoking, the self-efficacy in the prevention of smoking, and smoking prevention behaviors. Thus, this program can be taken into consideration when promoting the prevention of cigarette smoking behaviors in the early ages of adolescent males.