Several tobacco control measures are in place that aim to reduce the availability, accessibility and/or visibility of tobacco products at points of sale (POS). In response to a debate in the Dutch Parliament in October 2013, the Secretary of State for Health, Welfare and Sport agreed to review evidence on the impact of two of these measures, i.e., reducing the number of points of sale and restricting the display of tobacco products at points of sale. Special attention should be paid to tobacco vending machines. These data aim to support and facilitate a balanced discussion of different policy alternatives. This report synthesises data from a systematic review of research findings and information from grey literature and experts in a number of European countries to obtain a picture of the impact of the two measures.
This article empirically examines the effect of social background, education, and school organization on adolescent tobacco use in the Netherlands. We test theories of norm enforcing and horizon expanding social networks and distinction by examining the relationship between daily smoking behavior and school organization. Using the 2007 Dutch National School Survey on Substance Use, we find that individual student characteristics are more important predictors than school characteristics. Importantly, social background effects are clearly mediated by school tracks, suggesting that tracking helps us to explain social gradients in substance use. However, school context plays almost no role in adolescent smoking behavior. One exception concerns students in the general track, for whom we find that smoking is further reduced when they are placed in the same school organization as students of the vocational track. This is in line with the theory that tracking differences are magnified in a context where interaction between students from different tracks is promoted.
In: Hummel , K , Willemsen , M C , de Vries , H , Monshouwer , K & Nagelhout , G E 2017 , ' Social Acceptance of Smoking Restrictions During 10 Years of Policy Implementation, Reversal, and Reenactment in the Netherlands : Findings From a National Population Survey ' , Nicotine & Tobacco Research , vol. 19 , no. 2 , pp. 231-238 . https://doi.org/10.1093/ntr/ntw169
Introduction: Little is known about the extent to which smoking restrictions are socially accepted in a country such as the Netherlands where smoking restrictions have been implemented and reversed several times. The current study assessed trends as well as factors associated with two indicators of social acceptance of smoking restrictions in the Netherlands: acceptance of smoking in public places and implementation of home smoking bans. Methods: We used data from the Dutch Continuous Survey of Smoking Habits (DCSSH) between 2005 and 2014 (n = 182 826). The DCSSH is a national population survey with a cross-sectional design in which respondents aged 15 years and older are surveyed weekly. Results: Acceptance of smoking in public places decreased for six out of eight included venues, with the largest decrease for smoking in restaurants. The decrease in acceptance was larger among younger respondents and smokers. Smoking on terraces was an exception: decrease in acceptance there was larger among older respondents and ex-smokers. Implementation of home smoking bans increased over time. Having implemented a home smoking ban was associated with being male, being younger, having a high socioeconomic status, and being ex-or never smoker. Conclusions: Social acceptance of smoking restrictions has increased in the Netherlands, despite a suboptimal implementation process of smoking restrictions. However, there is still potential for improvement as acceptance of smoking is still quite high for some public venues like bars. It is important to strengthen smoking restrictions in order to further denormalize smoking in the Netherlands. Implications: We examined the extent to which smoking restrictions are socially accepted in the Netherlands where smoking restrictions have been implemented and reversed several times. Acceptance of smoking in public places decreased and implementation of home smoking bans increased between 2005 and 2014. Social acceptance of smoking restrictions increased in the Netherlands despite a suboptimal ...
"Only a limited number of effectiveness studies have been performed to study the benefits of efficacious behavior problems prevention programs for children when implemented through national health service systems. This study uses a quasi-experimental design to test the effectiveness of the school-based PATHS prevention program (Providing Alternative Thinking Strategies) when implemented through Dutch municipal health services by health promotion professionals. A sample of 1,294 children was followed for two years: 674 children attending nine schools providing PATHS and 620 children in nine comparison schools. The authors hypothesized finding an intervention effect of PATHS in terms of a significant reduction in teacher- and student-rated externalizing and internalizing problem behaviors, and a significant improvement in teacher-, student-, and peer-rated social skills and emotional skills. In fact, the results show low levels of program implementation and no intervention effects on problem behavior or social and emotional skills, suggesting that it is hard to reproduce positive intervention effects where an efficacious social-emotional prevention program is implemented through a national health service. More research is needed on the specific conditions required to implement efficacious programs effectively." (author's abstract)
Aims: To study the prospective relationship between maternal smoking during pregnancy (MSP) and behavioral problems, heavy alcohol use, daily smoking, and ever use of cannabis in the offspring, and to assess the role of confounding and mediating factors in a systematic way. Methods: Population-based cohort study of 2,230 respondents, starting in 2001 when respondents were around the age of 11 years, and two follow-up measurements at intervals of about 2.5 years (response rates of 96.0 and 81.4%). Results: Almost one third of the respondents' mothers had smoked tobacco during pregnancy. These respondents were at an increased risk for all outcomes except internalizing problems (significant odds ratios ranged from 1.40 to 2.97). The successive models showed that the potential confounding factors reduced the strength of all relationships. In the full model, the strongest relationship was found for mothers who smoked more than 10 cigarettes a day during pregnancy and daily smoking in early adolescence (odds ratio: 1.56), but none of the relationships were statistically significant. Conclusions: MSP is a marker for future behavioral outcomes in the offspring, but reducing the prevalence of MSP is unlikely to make a meaningful contribution to the prevention of these problems in adolescents.
Only a limited number of effectiveness studies have been performed to study the benefits of efficacious behavior problems prevention programs for children when implemented through national health service systems. This study uses a quasi-experimental design to test the effectiveness of the school-based PATHS prevention program (Providing Alternative THinking Strategies) when implemented through Dutch municipal health services by health promotion professionals. A sample of 1,294 children was followed for two years: 674 children attending nine schools providing PATHS and 620 children in nine comparison schools. We hypothesized finding an intervention effect of PATHS in terms of a significant reduction in teacher- and student-rated externalizing and internalizing problem behaviors, and a significant improvement in teacher-, student-, and peer-rated social skills and emotional skills. In fact, the results show low levels of program implementation and no intervention effects on problem behavior or social and emotional skills, suggesting that it is hard to reproduce positive intervention effects where an efficacious social-emotional prevention program is implemented through a national health service. More research is needed on the specific conditions required to implement efficacious programs effectively. Adapted from the source document.