Evaluation of the North Carolina Risk Reduction Program for smoking and alcohol.

Seventh grade students in two school systems in rural North Carolina were subjects for a program designed to reduce health risks associated with use/abuse of tobacco and alcohol. One school system was located in the central area of the state, and the other in the western mountains. Both groups were assessed before and after introduction of novel teaching programs dealing with alcohol and tobacco. Knowledge about smoking and alcohol increased in both sites (p less than .05). Attitudes toward alcohol did not change. Attitudes toward smoking eroded in both sites, with attitudes at one site showing a severe erosion (p less than .05). Smoking education in these communities may have conflicted strongly with ambient attitudes toward smoking, eliciting a "boomerang" effect.