This application proposes development of an interactive, multimedia program called the """"""""Computerized Nicotine Education Tool for High School Students (CNET-HS)."""""""" The program is intended to be offered through high schools and health care settings to assist adolescents in stopping nicotine use. The program utilizes new technology for teaching coping skills via computers. In addition, the user can personalize the program through selecting the race and gender of an on-screen """"""""Navigator"""""""" character, who presents different learning modules. Phase I will involve selecting gender-relevant Nicotine Cessation modules (five for each gender), with the assistance of a Teen Advisory Group and teen focus groups. We expect these modules to tap key areas of concern for teenagers --- e.g., stress, peer and family relationships, depression, and weight control (girls). We will develop an initial assessment session, two Nicotine Cessation modules (one for each gender), and a Relapse Prevention module for the Prototype. A demo of this Prototype will be subjected to an acceptance test. For Phase II, we will produce the final CD-ROM (including acceptance testing), and field test it in comparison to """"""""treatment as usual."""""""" If such a program demonstrably reduces nicotine use or increases cessation rates, an extensive national market would be assured.
The proposed program will provide targeted, computer-administered interventions to facilitate nicotine cessation for adolescents. Despite the rise in rates of nicotine use among young people, cessation programs tailored to adolescents have generally been unavailable or ineffective. This program could be marketed to school systems, as well as HMO adolescent medicine departments. The CNET-HS, if shown to demonstrate efficacy, will be of enormous value in preventing the morbidity and mortality associated with long-term nicotine use. In addition, the commercial potential of such a program would be extraordinary.
