Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2010, 7(3), 698-710; doi:10.3390/ijerph7030698
Article

The Impact of School Tobacco Policies on Student Smoking in Washington State, United States and Victoria, Australia

Tracy J. Evans-Whipp 1,* email, Lyndal Bond 2 email, Obioha C. Ukoumunne 3 email, John W. Toumbourou 4 email and Richard F. Catalano 5 email
1 Centre for Adolescent Health, Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, 2 Gatehouse Street, Parkville, Vic, 3052, Australia 2 Social and Public Health Sciences Unit, Medical Research Council, 4 Lilybank Gardens, Glasgow, G12 8RZ, UK 3 Clinical and Epidemiological Biostatistics Unit, Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Royal Children’s Hospital, Parkville, Vic, 3052, Australia 4 School of Psychology, Deakin University, Geelong Waterfront Campus, Geelong Vic, 3217, Australia 5 Social Development Research Group, School of Social Work, University of Washington, 9725 3rd Avenue NE, Seattle, WA 98115, USA
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 22 December 2009 / Accepted: 23 February 2010 / Published: 26 February 2010
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Smoking and Tobacco Control)
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Abstract: This paper measures tobacco polices in statewide representative samples of secondary and mixed schools in Victoria, Australia and Washington, US (N = 3,466 students from 285 schools) and tests their association with student smoking. Results from confounder-adjusted random effects (multi-level) regression models revealed that the odds of student perception of peer smoking on school grounds are decreased in schools that have strict enforcement of policy (odds ratio (OR) = 0.45; 95% CI: 0.25 to 0.82; p = 0.009). There was no clear evidence in this study that a comprehensive smoking ban, harsh penalties, remedial penalties, harm minimization policy or abstinence policy impact on any of the smoking outcomes.
Keywords: schools; tobacco policy; tobacco smoking

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MDPI and ACS Style

Evans-Whipp, T.J.; Bond, L.; Ukoumunne, O.C.; Toumbourou, J.W.; Catalano, R.F. The Impact of School Tobacco Policies on Student Smoking in Washington State, United States and Victoria, Australia. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2010, 7, 698-710.

AMA Style

Evans-Whipp TJ, Bond L, Ukoumunne OC, Toumbourou JW, Catalano RF. The Impact of School Tobacco Policies on Student Smoking in Washington State, United States and Victoria, Australia. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2010; 7(3):698-710.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Evans-Whipp, Tracy J.; Bond, Lyndal; Ukoumunne, Obioha C.; Toumbourou, John W.; Catalano, Richard F. 2010. "The Impact of School Tobacco Policies on Student Smoking in Washington State, United States and Victoria, Australia." Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 7, no. 3: 698-710.

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