Evaluating three self-help smoking cessation interventions for post-secondary smokers : a randomized controlled trial on six Ontario campuses

Objective. Smoking prevalence is highest among the young adult cohort. Postsecondary students are no exception. Although many students intend to quit smoking, no research has established what methods best promote reductions in, or complete abstinence from smoking. This randomized controlled trial examined the effectiveness of three self-help smoking cessation interventions. Method. On six post-secondary campuses, 483 smokers who voluntarily accessed Leave The Pack Behind (a tobacco control initiative) were randomly assigned to one of three smoking cessation interventions: One Step At A Time (a 2-booklet, *gold standard' program for adults); Smoke|Quit (a newly-developed 2-booklet program for young adult students); and usual care (a 'Quit Kit' containing a booklet on stress management, information about pharmacological quitting aides and novelty items). All participants also received one proactive telephone support call from a peer counsellor. During the study, 85 participants withdrew. The final sample of 216 students who completed baseline questionnaires and 12-week follow-up telephone interviews was representative of the initial sample in terms of demographic characteristics, and smokingquitting- related variables. Results. Whether participants quit smoking depended upon treatment condition, ^(2, N=2\6) = 6.34, p = .04, with Smoke|Quit producing more successfijl quitters (18.4%) than One Step At A Time (4.5%) or the Quit Kit (1 1.4%). On average, participants had quit 53.46 days, with no significant difference across treatments. Selfefficacy also increased. Use of the intervention or other quitting aides was not associated with treatment condition. Among the 191 participants who did not quit smoking, treatment condition did not influence outcomes. Overall, 46.2% had made a quit attempt. Significant decreases in weekly tobacco consumption and increases in self-efficacy to resist smoking were observed from baseline to follow-up. Conclusion. Post-secondary institutions represent a potentially final opportunity for age-targeted interventions. Self-help resources tailored to students' social and contextual characteristics will have considerable more impact than stage-only tailored interventions. Both reduction and abstinence outcomes should be emphasized to positively support students to stop smoking.

In danger of jammed minds: A deconstructive discourse analysis of the criteria for early onset schizophrenia and imagination in children's literature

The purpose of this research is to expose and complicate those discourses of childhood imagination as demonstrated in the diagnostic criteria for early onset schizophrenia by using an antipsychiatry perspective. This will be done by evaluating those discourses alongside those found in popular children’s literature, specifically, Harry Potter and The Philosopher’s Stone, Bridge to Terabithia, and A Wrinkle in Time. Once uncovered, the underlying power discourses were then exposed. This research will then employ a minor reading as provided by Deleuze and Guattari’s (1987) approach to minor literature to demonstrate the ways in which the child can subvert those dominant discourses. The potential of literature is evaluated for its ability to provide alternative modes of experience and lines of flight for the child subjected to the diagnostic criteria of schizophrenia.

Feeding and oviposition preferences of the diamondback moth Plutella xylostella (Lepidoptera: Plutellidae) on six Brassicaceae host plant species

Plutella xylostella (diamondback moth, DBM) is a globally distributed Lepidopteran that feeds and oviposits almost exclusively on plants in the Brassicaceae family. DBM disperses from the southern United States and Mexico into Canada in the spring and summer. Establishment of DBM in Ontario is partially dependent upon the quantity and quality of host plants available and the preference of DBM for different hosts. Host plants include many crops such as broccoli, canola and cabbage, as well as landscape ornamentals and wild plants. It has previously been established that DBM are attracted to host plants by chemicals, specifically glucosinolates. I examined the preference of DBM among crop, wild and ornamental host plant species and how preference varies with insect life stage (3rd and 4th instar larvae and adults). Experiments included exposing DBM larvae from five populations coming from different locations in Canada to six Brassicaceae species and evaluating the preferences and weight gain over one hour. Then adult females were exposed to these same plant species and their oviposition preferences were examined. Populations from Alberta, Saskatchewan and Ontario were compared to assess differences in preference associated with geographic region or species of host plant. The ultimate goal of my study was to understand the potential of various Brassicaceae species to act as reservoirs to sustain and promote population growth of DBM, as well as sinks that may decrease DBM abundance. Results showed that garden cress (Lepidium sativum) was highly preferred over other species (wintercress, black mustard, aubretia, broccoli and ornamental kale) for both food and oviposition sources. Previous studies report that garden cress contains saponins, chemicals shown to be toxic to developing DBM larvae, however no studies have yet shown a preference for garden cress. These results provide information on a novel host plant with the potential to control DBM population growth. No difference in preferences was found among populations of DBM from various sources in Canada.