Introduction: Nowadays, cigarette smoking among developing countries and especially among adolescents has increased significantly. Labor children are identified as one of the at-risk groups for smoking. In this study, the effectiveness of smoking prevention intervention with peer education approach on labor children's attitude toward smoking was studied.
Methods: This study was a clinical trial without a control group. All eligible labor children were recruited for the study in NGOs that provided services for labor children in the south of Tehran. Using social network analysis, stars in participants' networks were identified and trained as the peer educators in 8 sessions of smoking prevention intervention. Then peer educators trained labor child members in their social networks. Data were collected using the attitude toward smoking scale prior to intervention, post-intervention, and at follow-up (i.e. 30 days after the intervention). T-test and repeated measures analysis of variance analysis were used to evaluate outcomes.
Results: Forty-one labor children participated in this research (peer educators (n=10) and peer groups (n=31)). The mean age of participants was 15/5 year in peer educators group and 14/33 in peer groups and most of them were male and had an elementary education. Results showed that the general attitude toward smoking among labor children, compared with pre-intervention had been significantly negative (P=‌‌<0.0001). Also, the emotional attitude toward smoking among labor children, compared with pre-intervention had been significantly negative (P=‌‌<0.0001). Participants' scores in the general attitude and emotional attitude in post-test and follow-up were not significantly different and the intervention effect was stable. There was no significant difference between participants' scores on the cognitive and behavioral dimensions of attitudes toward smoking before and after the intervention.
Conclusions: Smoking prevention intervention with a peer education approach was effective in labor children's attitude toward smoking. Therefore, this intervention could be used for the prevention of smoking among this group of children.