Predicting change in smoking status for self-changers

Abstract

Fourteen different measures were investigated as predictors of change in smoking status for self-change efforts at smoking cessation. Adult subjects (N = 866) were classified into five stages of change: precontemplation, contemplation, action, maintenance, and relapse. Subjects were assessed on 10 change processes, self-efficacy, temptations to smoke, and their decisions weighing the advantages and disadvantages of smoking; and these 14 variables were used as predictors of change in smoking status 6 months later. Six significant functions were found which predicted movement for each of the stages. These predictors are of both theoretical interest and practical significance because they may be modified in self-change efforts to overcome addictive behaviors. Overall, the change processes of self-reevaluation and the helping relationship and the self-efficacy and decisional balance variables were the most efficacious predictor variables. A general pattern emerged in which processes oriented more toward environmental events, such as dramatic relief and social liberation, tended to predict failure or no progress whereas more experientially oriented processes predicted progress.