Tobacco-free policy reduces combustible tobacco byproduct on a large university campus
Gelino, Brett W., Salzer, Allyson R., Harsin, Joshua D., Naudé, Gideon P., Gilroy, Shawn P., and Reed, Derek D. (2023)
Abstract:
Policy drives community-level behavior change, so behavior analysts should aid empirical policy development. University campus regulation is a useful proxy for broader policy initiatives and thus is a convenient inroad for behavior analyst involvement. This paper examines behavior analytic contributions to the planning and evaluation of a university tobacco-free initiative. We provided resources and guidance throughout early planning, and we then evaluated faculty and student compliance via byproduct (e.g., cigarette butts) counts taken at four high-traffic sites (as flagged by preliminary surveying of campus faculty, staff, and students). Visual analysis and supplementary statistical testing support notions of (a) a meaningful and sustained reduction of combustible tobacco byproducts in all locations, and (b) a demonstrative example of behavior analytic involvement with university policy planning and evaluation.
Citation: Gelino, Brett W., Salzer, Allyson R., Harsin, Joshua D., Naudé, Gideon P., Gilroy, Shawn P., and Reed, Derek D. (2023). Tobacco-free policy reduces combustible tobacco byproduct on a large university campus. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 56(1). 86-97. https://dx.doi.org/10.1002/jaba.967