The linking lives health education program: A randomized clinical trial of a parent-based tobacco use prevention program for African American and Latino youths

Objectives. We evaluated the effectiveness of a parent-based add-on component to a school-based intervention to prevent cigarette smoking among African American and Latino middle school youths. Methods. Mother-adolescent dyads (n = 1386) were randomly assigned to 2 groups: (1) a school-based smoking-prevention intervention or (2) the same intervention with a parent-based add-on component called Raising Smoke-Free Kids. Mothers in the experimental condition received the parent add-on component. Mothers in the control condition received information on selecting a high school. All adolescents received a version of Project Towards No Tobacco Use (TNT). The primary outcome was a reduction in adolescent cigarette smoking. Follow-up data were obtained from 1096 mother-adolescent dyads at 15 months postintervention. Results. At follow-up, the odds of smoking cigarettes were reduced by 42% for adolescents in the parent add-on condition versus the TNT-only condition. Mothers in the parent add-on condition were more likely than were mothers in the TNT-only condition to set rules about risk-sensitive social activities and to be perceived as trustworthy by their child. Group differences also were found in the frequency and quality of mother-adolescent communication. Conclusions. Including parent add-on components in school-based smoking prevention programs can reduce smoking behavior on the part of inner-city middle school youths.