This article reports on the findings and methodology of an evaluation of Project EX, an eight-session teen school-based clinic tobacco use cessation program that involves the inclusion of enjoyable, motivating activities (“games,” “talk show,” and alternative medicine-type) to try to improve quit rates among youth.
This clinic program was tested in a three-group experimental design: clinic-only, clinic plus a school-as-community (SAC) component, and standard care control. Eighteen schools were assigned to the three conditions using a randomized block design. A total of 335 smokers participated in the study, making this the largest controlled teen smoking cessation field trial conducted to date. Seventeen percent of the smokers enrolled in the clinics had reports of having quit smoking for at least the last 30 days at 3-month follow-up (5 months after the program quit day), compared to only 8 percent of the control condition smokers over the same time period. The evaluation concluded that the Project EX clinic component appears to be an effective means of tobacco use cessation among teens. (publisher abstract modified)