NCJ Number
189431
Journal
Adolescent & Family Health Volume: 1 Issue: 1 Dated: Winter 2000 Pages: 5-10
Date Published
2000
Length
6 pages
Annotation
This study examined the impact of being cited for tobacco possession and of a subsequent court appearance on tobacco attitudes and behavior among a sample of teens who attended a teen tobacco court (TTC) in South Florida.
Abstract
This study was conducted in the context of recent efforts to reduce tobacco use by minors by introducing and/or refining laws that make the purchase, possession, and/or use of tobacco illegal. Two waves of data were obtained during the first several months of 1999. The time one (T-1) sample included 402 teen offenders who completed questionnaires at the time of their TTC appearance. The time two (T-2) follow-up sample included 210 individuals who were interviewed at T-1. The T-2 interviews were conducted by telephone approximately 2 months after the T-1 interviews. At T-1, 28.4 percent of the sample indicated they used less tobacco than they did prior to their citation, and 15.5 percent reported they had not used tobacco since being cited. Significantly larger percentages of younger smokers reported less use and no use after the citation than the older teens. At T-2, 29.3 percent of the sample reported less tobacco use following TTC than prior to it; and 27.8 percent indicated they had not used tobacco since. There were no significant differences in the T-2 tobacco-use patterns among gender, ethnic, age, and educational groups. Findings indicated that being ticketed and appearing in TTC had significant short-term impacts on a very large percentage of those in the two samples. Additional follow-up studies should be conducted to determine whether the changes following the citation and court processes persisted. Follow-up studies should also explore how factors other than the citation or court appearances influenced tobacco use. 3 tables and 10 references