A preliminary study of the use of peer support in smoking cessation programs for pregnant adolescents.

This article describes preliminary findings of an experimental, randomized, three-group, controlled design examining the effectiveness of a smoking cessation intervention for pregnant teens. The three groups are: Teen FreshStart with a buddy program (TFSB), a Teen FreshStart program (TFS) without peer support, and the Usual Care (UC) control group. Forty-six subjects completed the post-intervention assessment of smoking status. The TFSB group consistently achieved greater smoking cessation across all measures when compared to the subjects in the other two groups. These results indicate that the use of peer support may be an effective adjunct in smoking cessation programs for pregnant adolescents.