About the Project

There are two main phases to our program of research:

The first phase involves a survey administered in school to 9th and 10th graders throughout the Chicagoland area. This survey asks students about their attitudes and experiences with smoking. This survey will find out what percentage of high school students in the area have tried smoking or currently smoke. In addition, some students who complete this survey will be invited to participate in the second phase of this program – the Health Connections study.

The second phase is the Health Connections study. This program of research aims to learn more about the health habits and smoking patterns of teens as they go through high school and beyond. We want to discover more about the patterns of smoking and stopping beyond trying that first cigarette, and even leading up to the first trial of smoking. We hope to use the results of this research to develop better health promotion programs for teens and young adults. We plan to enroll approximately 1400 9th and 10th graders from the Chicago area, along with their parents, into our research study. We will enroll teens who have never smoked, those who have tried once or twice, and those who smoke more often. The study will last approximately 3 years.

There are four pieces to the Health Connections Study:

Health Habits: everyone participates in this piece of the project
Electronic Diary: about 30% of the participants will also take part in the Electronic Diary piece
Family Talk: about 30% of the teens and their parents will take part in “Family Talk” discussions
Smoking and Emotions: less than 20% of the participants will take part in this piece and come to the research offices at the University of Illinois at Chicago

All participants will complete the Health Habits piece. From these participants, we will randomly select those who take part in the additional pieces of the project.