None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
Adolescent e-cigarette use has drastically increased in recent years, posing several acute and chronic harms, including poisonings, burns, serious lung injury, and - where nicotine e-liquid is used - the potential to impact brain development and lead to dependence. Effective and scalable preventive interventions are urgently needed, and school-based eHealth interventions are an efficient, effective and economical approach. Yet, there are few school-based preventive eHealth interventions targeting e-cigarettes, and none within Australia. To address this need, we developed the OurFutures Vaping Program. Built on the successful ‘OurFutures’ (formerly ‘Climate Schools’) prevention model, the OurFutures Vaping Program involves 4x40 minute online cartoon-based lessons that are delivered during Year 7/8 health education classes. This study will evaluate the OurFutures Vaping Program via a cluster randomised controlled trial among 42 schools across NSW, QLD and WA. It hypothesized that: • H1 (primary outcome): Students who receive the OurFutures Vaping Program will be less likely to commence e-cigarette use at the 12-month follow-up, compared to students in an active control condition. • H2: The OurFutures Vaping Program will achieve superior outcomes to the control condition on secondary outcomes including: uptake of tobacco smoking, frequency/quantity of e-cigarettes use and tobacco smoking, intentions to use e-cigarettes/tobacco cigarettes, knowledge about e-cigarettes and tobacco smoking, mental health, wellbeing, and quality of life. • H3: Benefits of the OurFutures Vaping Program on primary and secondary outcomes will be sustained over the long-term (up to 36-months post baseline). • H4: The OurFutures Vaping Program will demonstrate cost-effectiveness (up to 36 months post baseline).
Interventions
The OurFutures Vaping Program is a universal school-based eHealth prevention program that aims to prevent the uptake, and reduce the use, of e-cigarettes among adolescents. The program is built on the effective “OurFutures” (formerly “Climate Schools”) prevention model which is based on social influence and social competence principles. Participating secondary schools will be randomly allocated to one of two groups: i) an active control group (usual health education) or ii) an intervention group (the OurFutures Vaping Program). The OurFutures Vaping Program aligns with the Australian and state-based Health & Physical Education Curriculums and is designed to be delivered during Year 7/8 health education classes. The program consists of 4x40-minute lessons (delivered one week apart over 4 weeks) consisting of a web-based cartoon component completed individually by students (approx. 20mins), followed by optional teacher-facilitated activities (e.g., quizzes, class discussions, role plays). There are quizzes and reflective activities embedded in the cartoons to ensure student engagement, comprehension, and critical thinking. Factsheets (designed specifically for this study) are provided after each lesson to summarise and reinforce key content. The intervention aims to provide students with evidence-based information about e-cigarettes and tobacco cigarettes (e.g., what they are made of, short- and long-term harms, the influence of media and marketing, signs of nicotine addiction, coping and help-seeking information and the benefits of avoiding e-cigarettes and tobacco cigarettes), to modify existing norms, and improve resistance skills (via practicing assertive communication and other refusal skills). Students and teachers access the intervention materials online via the OurFutures Vaping Program website. Teachers are provided with links to curriculum outlines, lesson summaries and implementation guides. No formal teacher training is required to deliver the intervention; however, researchers are available for a one-off meeting with teachers (approx. 30 minutes) to demonstrate how to navigate the study website and answer any questions. Program Fidelity: Teachers will be asked to complete logbooks to document their implementation of the OurFutures Vaping Program (i.e. timing, activities delivered, technical problems, other implementation details). Website analytics will provide objective data on the dose and timing of intervention delivery.
Sponsors
The University of Sydney
Study design
Allocation
Randomised controlled trial
Intervention model
Parallel
Primary purpose
Prevention
Masking
Open (masking not used)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
11 Years to 15 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
Eligible participants will be all Year 7 and/or Year 8 students attending participating Independent and Catholic schools in 2023. Students will be required to be fluent in English, provide informed active consent, and only students who receive parental consent will be eligible to participate. This change was made before any participants were enrolled.
Exclusion criteria
-Schools with fewer than 70 enrolled Year 7/8 students in 2023 -Schools based outside NSW, WA and QLD -Government/public schools
Outcome results
None listed