Date of Award

2009-01-01

Degree Name

Master of Arts

Department

Psychology

Advisor(s)

Theodore V. Cooper

Abstract

Smoking is deleterious to one's health and is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States; no level of smoking has been found to be safe. Hispanic and college populations smoke at lower levels but for longer periods of time than non-Hispanic whites and are at risk of escalating their smoking. In this study the effect of a brief tailored intervention on quit status, smoking reduction, Transtheoretical measure change, as well as potential correlates of smoking cessation and reduction, were examined. Two hundred fifty participants completed questionnaires at baseline, 1-, and 3- month follow-ups. Questionnaires assessed: demographic information, smoking status, level of nicotine dependence, stage of change, and decisional balance. Descriptive analyses were used to assess participant characteristics, quit status, and reduction status. A test of marginal homogeneity assessed changes in smoking status, Wilcoxon sign ranks tests assessed changes in Transtheoretical stages, and repeated measures analysis of variance assessed decisional balance over time. Logistic regression was used to assess predictors of quitting and reducing smoking. Participants demonstrated low levels of nicotine dependence and expired carbon monoxide. Fourteen percent of participants quit smoking at both time points, while 27% and 30% of participants reduced their smoking at the 1-month and the 3-month follow- ups respectively. Participants' smoking status changed in the anticipated direction at both follow-ups; however, participants did not move through the stages of change in the theorized direction from baseline to the 1- month follow-up, yet did so from baseline to the 3-month follow-up. Previous predictors of smoking cessation and reduction were not predictive of cessation or reduction in this sample. Pros and cons of smoking significantly decreased at both follow-ups. These findings suggest non- trivial rates of quitting and reduction, inconsistent changes in Transtheoretical measures, and the absence of cessation predictors. Future studies assessing the intervention relative to a control condition, as well as the assessment of predictors potentially more relevant to light smoking are warranted.

Language

en

Provenance

Received from ProQuest

File Size

69 pages

File Format

application/pdf

Rights Holder

Natasha Kathleen Naylor

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