ABSTRACT

The reciprocal interaction between behavior, person, and environment affects a person's health.
Hence, an individual's self-efficacy acquired through four sources (mastery of experiences,
vicarious experiences, verbal persuations, and emotional states) from the environment may
impact his self-confidence to resist unhealthy behaviors such as smoking (Badr & Moody,
2005). It may be noted, however, that people with low self-efficacy to resist smoking are
vulnerable to smoking behaviors (Van Zundert, Engels, and Van Den Eijnden, 2006). Moreover,
adolescent smoking persists as a major health problem worldwide. Yet, there is also a
persistence of a need to analyze the concept of self-efficacy in the context of its
appropriateness and usefulness for this age group (Heale & Griffin, 2008). The purpose of the
study was to determine if a biographical documentary film would enhance the self-efficacy of
freshmen students in a comprehensive university in Manila regarding smoking reduction. The
participants were divided into two (2) groups: the experimental group which received the
intervention (viewing of a biographical documentary film), and the control group, which served
as a reference group. The self-efficacy ratings (Friends' Influence Scale and Emotions Scale) on
controlling smoking behaviors were measured using the Self-efficacy Scale on Adolescent
Smoking before and after the intervention. T-test was used to evaluate if there was a significant
change in the results of the 2 groups. Thirty (30) participants were selected using simple
random sampling to participate in the study. The mean results of the friends’ influence scale
rating between the control and experimental groups do not prove to be significantly different
from each other as indicated by the t-test result (t-value FIS = -1.578, p-value = 0.05) with a
critical value of 0.126. However, the mean results of the Emotions Scale rating between the
control and experimental groups prove to be significantly different from each other as indicated
by the t-test result (t-value ES = -2.019, p-value = 0.05) with a critical value of 0.05. The
outcome of the study showed that the level of self-efficacy of the freshmen students in a
comprehensive university in Manila regarding smoking reduction was only enhanced on the
Emotional Scale rating. Thus, the intervention could be used as a tool in enhancing adolescents'
control over smoking behaviors under emotional circumstances, encouraging more in-depth
studies to further evaluate the its effectiveness. On the other hand, it will serve as a basis for
future studies in further enhancing adolescents' control over smoking behaviors under the
circumstances of friends' influence.