Accessibility statement

Social Norms Intervention to Prevent Smoking

Social norms approaches are based on the premise that we frequently overestimate risk behaviours among our peers. By conducting campaigns to reduce any dissonance between perceptions and reality, social norms approaches aim to reduce risk behaviours. This study was conducted in five schools in West Yorkshire during 2010/11 to identify any dissonance between actual (self-report) and perceived smoking among 12 to 13 year olds and assess the feasibility of using a social norms approach in secondary schools to prevent the uptake of smoking. The study found significant levels of dissonance among pupils.  Implementing the approach was not only feasible but also welcomed by schools.

Funding

Funder: NIHR (Feasibility and Sustainability Fund)
Start Date: April 2012
End Date: March 2014

Members

Internal Staff

  • Helen Elsey

External Collaborators

  • Heather Thomson, Leeds City Council
  • Gemma Mann, Leeds City Council
  • Rashesh Mehta, Wakefield Council
  • Steven Body (Education Leeds)

Public Health and Society Research in the Department of Health Sciences