Title

Predictors of relapse among smokers: Transtheoretical effort variables, demographics, and smoking severity

Authors

N. S. Gökbayrak, University of Rhode Island
Andrea L. Paiva, University of Rhode IslandFollow
Bryan J. Blissmer, University of Rhode IslandFollow
James O. Prochaska, University of Rhode IslandFollow

Document Type

Article

Date of Original Version

2015

Abstract

The present longitudinal study investigates baseline assessments of static and dynamic variables, including demographic characteristics, smoking severity, and Transtheoretical Model of Behavior Change (TTM) effort variables (Decisional Balance (i.e. Pros and Cons), Situational Temptations, and Processes of Change) of relapse among individuals who were abstinent at 12 months. The study sample (N = 521) was derived from an integrated dataset of four population-based smoking cessation interventions. Several key findings included: Participants who were aged 25–44 and 45–64 (OR = .43, p = .01 and OR = .40, p = .01, respectively) compared to being aged 18–24 were less likely to relapse at follow-up. Participants in the control group were more than twice as likely to relapse (OR = 2.17, p = .00) at follow-up compared to participants in the treatment group. Participants who reported higher Habit Strength scores were more likely to relapse (OR = 1.05, p = .02). Participants who had higher scores of Reinforcement Management (OR = 1.05, p = .04) and Self-Reevaluation (OR = 1.08, p = .01) were more likely to relapse. Findings add to one assumption that relapsers tend to relapse not solely due to smoking addiction severity, but due to immediate precursor factors such as emotional distress. One approach would be to provide additional expert guidance on how smokers can manage stress effectively when they enroll in treatment at any stage of change.

Citation/Publisher Attribution

Gökbayrak, Paiva, A. L., Blissmer, B. J., & Prochaska, J. O. (2015). Predictors of relapse among smokers: Transtheoretical effort variables, demographics, and smoking severity. Addictive Behaviors, 42, 176-179. doi: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2014.11.022

Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2014.11.022

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

Comment

N. S. Gökbayrak, A. L. Paiva and J. O. Prochaska are in the Cancer Prevention Research Center.

B. J. Blissmer is in the Department of Kinesiology.