Knowledge and Attitudes of School Teachers Toward Tobacco, Alcohol, and Other Drug Use and School Health Policy

Lee, Mihyoung; Ham, Ok Kyung; Lee, Sujin

doi:2007.16.3.250

J Korean Acad Psychiatr Ment Health Nurs > Volume 16(3); 2007 > Article

Original Article

Journal of Korean Academy of psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing 2007;16(3):250-257.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.12934/jkpmhn.2007.16.3.250 Published online September 30, 2007.

Knowledge and Attitudes of School Teachers Toward Tobacco, Alcohol, and Other Drug Use and School Health Policy

Mihyoung Lee¹, Ok Kyung Ham², Sujin Lee³

¹Professor, Department of Nursing, Inha University
²Assistant Professor, Department of Nursing, Inha University
³Department of Nursing. Inha University

일 지역 학생들의 약물남용에 대한 교사의 인식， 지식，태도 및 학교 정책

이미형¹, 함옥경², 이수진³

¹인하대학교 간호학과 교수
²인하대학교 의과대학 간호학과 부교수
³인하대학교 간호학과

Correspondence: Ok Kyung Ham,Fax: 82-32-874-5880,
Email: okkyimg@inha.ac.kr

Received: 3 August 2007 • Accepted: 13 September 2007

Abstract

Purpose
This study aimed at identifying school health policy related to tobacco, alcohol, and drug use of students and assessing knowledge and attitudes of teachers toward tobacco, alcohol, and drug use to provide baseline data in the development of school health programs.
Methods
This study used a cross-sectional descriptive research design targeting 216 teachers from 167 schools located in one city.
Results
The most frequently employed school policy when teachers detected tobacco, alcohol, or drug use students was provision of counseling to students and/or their parents, followed by after school programs, while only 4.2〜 13.0% had referred students to smoking cessation, alcohol treatment, and/or drug abuse treatment programs. The mean scores for knowledge related to tobacco, alcohol, and drug use were highest among the school health teachers, whereas, mean attitude scores of tobacco, alcohol, and drug use were highest among the elementary school teachers.
Conclusions
It is required to develop codified school health policy regarding tobacco, alcohol, and drug use of students, while treatment and control programs should be more actively provided for students committing these health risk behaviors. Efforts should be made to enhance appropriate attitudes toward tobacco, alcohol, and drug use among middle and high school teachers.

Key Words: Substance abuse; Faculty; Knowledge; Attitude; Health policy