Hieftje K, Fernandes C, Lin I, Fiellin L. (2021). Effectiveness of a web-based tobacco product use prevention videogame intervention on young adolescents’ beliefs and knowledge. Substance Abuse. 42(1): 47-53. doi: 10.1080/08897077.2019.1691128
Researchers recruited adolescents (n = 560) age 10–16 years from schools and afterschool programs across the U.S. to participate in a study of the effectiveness of a web-based videogame tobacco prevention intervention, smokeSCREEN. Informed by social cognitive theory and the theory of planned behavior, the intervention facilitates tobacco use prevention in adolescents by increasing knowledge and promoting healthy beliefs around combustible cigarettes, e-cigarettes, vaping, and flavored tobacco product use. smokeSCREEN comprises two mini-games: Refusal Power (players practice refusing peers in risky situations involving tobacco products, with a focus on vaping and JUUL vapes) and Knew Sense (provides tobacco use information, which players practice applying through role-play with a cartoon peer character). Participants accessed smokeSCREEN through a private, password-protected website during school or in an afterschool program. Total game time was one to two hours. Participants completed a survey on knowledge and beliefs about tobacco product use at baseline and post-intervention through a secure website. At post-intervention, participants also answered questions on gameplay experience. Analysis revealed significant increases in the proportions of correct survey answers between baseline and post-intervention for all six questions about knowledge of tobacco product use. Participants also demonstrated significant improvement in the number of correct answers for seven of the eight total questions on beliefs about tobacco product use from baseline to post-intervention. Seventy-six percent of participants reported learning something new from playing smokeSCREEN, 69% enjoyed the game, and 58% would recommend smokeSCREEN to friends. Results suggest that smokeSCREEN has a beneficial effect on participant knowledge and beliefs about tobacco product use and is acceptable to adolescents.