The Effectiveness of Self-Help Group (SHG) Intervention on Smoking Prevention of Adolescents in Aceh, Indonesia: A Controlled Field Trail

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to examine the effectiveness of the Self-Help Group (SHG) intervention in smoking prevention among adolescents. METHODS: This study was carried out in 2 Junior High Schools in Aceh Besar using a quasi-experimental method, which was conducted in the intervention and the control groups with a pre-post design. The number of samples was determined based on power analysis with medium effect size and power (0.08) with 40 respondents per group. After randomizing the schools, a total of 40 students who met the criteria were randomly selected for each school. The data were collected by using a self-report questionnaire, consisting of knowledge, as well as smoking attitudes, intentions, and behavior. The SHG intervention consist of 6 sessions, each of which was conducted per week with a duration of 40-60 minutes per session. The data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. RESULTS: The results of statistical tests using the Mann-Whitney and t-test showed that there was an effect of the SHG intervention on knowledge (p-value 0.043), attitude (p-value 0.001), intention (p-value 0.029), and behavior (p-value 0.003). The average score of knowledge was higher in the SHG intervention group than in the control group, while the average score of attitude, smoking intention and behavior was lower in the SHG intervention group than in the control group. CONCLUSION: Health practitioners, specifically community nurses are suggested to implement SHG interventions as one of the strategies for preventing smoking among adolescents.