INTERNET BASED SMOKING EDUCATION FOR COLLEGE STUDENTS

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This application proposes the development of an interactive, Web-based, multimedia program called MyStudentBody: Tobacco. The program is designed to be offered through colleges and universities to help students understand, reduce, and stop the use of tobacco. MyStudentBody: Tobacco, based at its own website, will allow students to develop a personalized tobacco page that is relevant to their concerns, while presenting material in an engaging, dramatic format. MyStudentBody: Tobacco utilizes a Rate Yourself module to help students create a personalized tobacco page, which contains a tailored tobacco profile, articles based on personal risks, Shockwave peer stories, e-mail features and reminders, and written and graphical motivational feedback. This website will allow students to receive empirically-based information in a confidential manner, acknowledging their desire for self-help methods. Phase II will involve finalizing the content, interface, and interactive features of the website through discussions with an advisory group of college peer educators and consultation with tobacco experts. We will produce a prototype website and field test it in comparison to a control website consisting of standard text-based tobacco information. Finally, we will gather satisfaction data from participating students and acceptance feedback from health professionals at participating colleges.