The Life Skills Training Model: A Broad Spectrum Approach to the Prevention of Cigarette Smoking

Considerable evidence now exists concerning the long-term health consequences of cigarette smoking. Efforts to develop effective smoking cessation strategies have produced disappointing results. Given the health hazards of cigarette smoking and the difficulty of quitting once the smoking habit has been acquired, the most logical course of action would appear to involve the development of effective smoking prevention strategies. Unfortunately, traditional cognitively oriented smoking education programs have proved to be inadequate. This paper briefly reviews the available literature concerning the factors promoting the initiation of cigarette smoking, and two theoretical models derived from social learning theory are suggested to explain the smoking initiation process. An argument is made for a more comprehensive prevention strategy which places primary emphasis on the psychosocial determinants of adolescent cigarette smoking. One such approach, called Life Skills Training, is described and the results of three recent studies are summarized and discussed. Overall, these results indicate that this type of primary prevention strategy is capable of reducing new cigarette smoking by at least 50 per cent. Moreover, this approach may be applicable to other related health compromising behaviors with similar etiologies.