Abstract:
E-cigarette smoking continues to increase and is a challenging public health problem among adolescents. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the effects of the social cognitive theory applied to programs on e-cigarette smoking prevention among junior high school students. The participants were 8th grade male and female students during the academic year 2022 in public primary schools, which were similar characteristics in Pong Nam Ron, Chanthaburi. There were assigned to the experimental or the comparison group, with 37 subjects in each group. The experimental group received a program based on social cognitive theory. The program consisted of four modules for 4 weeks. Meanwhile, the comparison group received education from the school-based curriculum. Data collection was done by google form. Statistical analysis was performed by using percentage, mean, standard deviation, t-test, and repeated measure ANOVA. The finding revealed that the experimental group had higher scores of knowledge of ecigarettes (F = 114.304, p< .001), an expectation of the negative outcomes of e-cigarette smoking (F = 13.756, p< .001), self-efficacy in refusing to e-cigarettes smoking (F = 6.055, p< .05), and intention not to e-cigarettes smoking (F = 67.652, p< .001), at the end of the program and during the followed-up period, comparing those in the prior experiment. The results of the study will be useful as a guideline for community nurse practitioners, health personnel, teachers, and people concerned to apply this program for adolescents to prevent them form e-cigarette smoking.