The Outcomes of Guardian Smoke Out Online Game on Perceived Susceptibility and Perceived Severity of E-Cigarettes among Junior High School Students

Abstract

This research aimed to study the effect of the online game Guardian Smoke Out on the perceived susceptibility and perceived severity of e-cigarettes among junior high school students. The population consisted of 191 junior high school students from one school, selected using multi-stage random sampling. A sample size of 53 people was used for the study. The intervention was Guardian Smoke Out. Data was collected using a 15-item questionnaire on perceived susceptibility of e-cigarettes (IOC=0.80, a=0.89) and a 15-item questionnaire on perceived severity of e-cigarettes (IOC=1.00, a=0.91). Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and the Wilcoxon Sign Rank test. The distribution of data was tested using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov statistic, which revealed an abnormal distribution (p<.05).

The results showed that: After the intervention, junior high school students had significantly higher scores on perceived susceptibility of e-cigarettes than before the intervention (Z=-2.59, p<.05), and significantly higher scores on perceived severity of e-cigarettes than before the intervention (Z=-2.07, p<.05). The online game Guardian Smoke Out is an effective medium for enhancing awareness of the risk and severity of e-cigarettes among junior high school students. Further studies are needed to evaluate the long-term impact of the game on e-cigarette use behavior and to develop the game to be more relevant to the target group’s context.