Effectiveness of two smoking prevention programs according to type of applicator

Although research on the prevention of drug use has shown that the effectiveness of programs depends partly on who applies them, the results of studies designed to clarify this issue are contradictory. This study compared the effects on smoking, in the short and medium term, of the implementation of two school-based prevention programs, depending on the type of applicator. The sample was made up of 200 seventh-grade students distributed among five experimental conditions: four of intervention, in which the programs were implemented by teachers from the school or by external psychologists, and one of control. The results show that teachers applying the Barbacana program and psychologists applying the Construyendo Salud (Building Health) program succeeded in reducing the incidence of cigarette smoking (BR-teachers 15%; C.S-psychologists 5%) and strengthening attitudes against smoking. An interaction effect between type of program and type of applicators was clearly observed.