Evaluating an Antismoking Program

Abstract

This study reports the results of an evaluation of an antismoking message aimed at seventhand tenth-grade students. The message was delivered in the form of a comic book developed specifically for this program. In order to avoid the pitfalls of the traditional black-box evaluation, this study examines both the relative effectiveness of various treatment modalities and the intervening processes of the program. Findings showed that none of the treatment modalities had any significant effect on teenagers 'smoking attitudes, beliefs, or behaviors. However, analysis of the effects of the different modalities did show that the more intensive the treatment modality, the more times students read the comic and the more they learned about the story and the characters in the conhic. The information on diagnosing the causal mechanism underlying the program leads to several useful suggestions for future program improvements.