Bericht aus der Praxis

Abstract

Background. The school is seen as an important setting for tobacco prevention. What limitates the success of school-based preventive measures? Instruments and methods. In a naturalistic-controlled cohort study, N = 1359 students in fifth or sixth grade from college preparatory (“Gymnasium”), secondary modern (“Realschule”) or comprehensive secondary schools (“Gesamtschule”) participated in the universal educational program “Not smoking is cool!” (NiC). They were surveyed before the program as well as three and nine months after with standardized instruments on tobacco intake, academic achievements, and social behavior. Results. NiC is effective in “Gymnasium” fifth-/sixth graders but shows, as expected, small effect sizes. The percentage of new smokers increased more strongly in the “Gymnasium” control than in the “Gymnasium” intervention group. Pre-existing tobacco intake, academic achievements and behavioral difficulties influenced NiC’s effectiveness regardless of school type. Conclusions. Significant limitations on the effectiveness of a school-based tobacco prevention program in fifth-/sixth graders exist. These are risk factors that are not addressed by the intervention measure. NiC should be informed by selective and/or behaviourbased prevention program content when conducted in the less academically oriented secondary schools.