Self-Exempting Beliefs and Intention to Quit Smoking within a Socially Disadvantaged Australian Sample of Smokers (original) (raw)
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Preventive Medicine - PREV MED, 2004
Objective. To determine the prevalence, correlates, and predictive value for intention to quit of 18 commonly expressed self-exempting beliefs about smoking among smokers and recent quitters, some 20 years after intensive tobacco control commenced in Australia.Method. National telephone survey of randomly selected 802 adults (685 smokers; 117 recent quitters).Main outcome measures. Level of agreement or disagreement with 18 self-exempting beliefs about smoking and intention to quit.Results. Four coherent categories of self-exempting beliefs are widely held by smokers (“bulletproof”, “skeptic”, “jungle”, and “worth it”). Smokers who hold self-exempting beliefs are more likely to be aged over 50, smoke more than 15 cigarettes per day, have less than 12 years of schooling, and be in the precontemplation stage of change. All scales had some relationship with progress towards quitting. In particular, “worth it” beliefs are powerful independent predictors of smokers not planning to quit.Conclusions. Some self-exempting beliefs seem to act as a shield for smokers, giving them false reassurance and allowing them to avoid thinking deeply about the importance of quitting. This is particularly true of “worth it” beliefs. The prevalence of such beliefs may suggest confusion about smoking being a risk rather than a probable cause of illness. Creative approaches to increasing the saliency of the costs of smoking may be fruitful.
Views of Low Socio-Economic Smokers: What Will Help Them to Quit
T o determine what support low socioeconomic smokers perceive would help them stop smoking, 63 M ¯ aori, Pacific Island and New Zealand European/other smokers were interviewed in focus groups. Prompted discussion was used to determine what participants knew and thought about existing cessation services and products, and what their interest was in innovative cessation approaches. Most participants knew about Quitline, nicotine patches and gum, but had scant knowledge of other cessation services and products. They had a reasonable knowledge of smoking-related harm, but not the range of harm caused by smoking. They reported being influenced to quit by graphic health advertisements on television and health warnings on tobacco packages. They wanted extended access to a wider range of cessation services and more subsidised cessation products, and they were interested in innovative approaches. Low socioeconomic and minority group smokers need clearer information to support use of effective cessation methods. They need to know about the efficacy and safety of cessation products, where and how to access products and support, and the cost involved. Cessation support needs to be more convenient and culturally salient.
This paper looks at changing patterns of smoking behaviour (smoking prevalence, initiation and cessation) across the population of Australia in general and within specific demographic segments. It concludes that different segments have responded differently to a standard anti-smoking message strategy applied in a largely undifferentiated way, across the population. Overall smoking prevalence has not continued to decline in Australia, despite increasingly strident anti-smoking campaigns. Similarly the young people, especially young women, have continued to take up smoking. Males have been less likely to quit (become ex-smokers). This may suggest that current confidence that smoking prevalence will decline to zero, if the current standard strategy is maintained, may be misplaced. The data suggest that there is a need for a re-examination of social marketers' anti-smoking segmentation strategy.
BMJ open, 2015
To assess the predictors of intentions to quit smoking in a community sample of Aboriginal smokers of reproductive age, in whom smoking prevalence is slow to decline. A cross-sectional survey involved 121 Aboriginal smokers, aged 18-45 years from January to May 2014, interviewed at community events on the Mid-North Coast NSW. Qualitative and quantitative data were collected on smoking and quitting attitudes, behaviours and home smoking rules. Perceived efficacy for quitting, and perceived threat from smoking, were uniquely assessed with a validated Risk Behaviour Diagnosis (RBD) Scale. Logistic regression explored the impact of perceived efficacy, perceived threat and consulting previously with a doctor or health professional (HP) on self-reported intentions to quit smoking, controlling for potential confounders, that is, protection responses and fear control responses, home smoking rules, gender and age. Participants' comments regarding smoking and quitting were investigated vi...
Addictive Behaviors, 2005
Older smokers represent an important subgroup that has been shown to benefit considerably from quitting smoking. However, to date little is known about relevant beliefs, intentions, and motivations. This study examined factors associated with older smokers' (aged 60 years and above) intention to quit smoking using data gathered via the International Tobacco Control Policy Evaluation Survey (ITCPES), a random digit dialed telephone survey of over 9000 adult smokers from United Kingdom, United States, Canada, and Australia. Having smoked for a long time and having survived, it was hypothesized that older smokers would perceive themselves as being less vulnerable to the harm of smoking (self-exempting beliefs); be less concerned about the health effects of smoking; be less confident about being able to quit successfully (self-efficacy); not perceive any health benefit of quitting, and hence be less willing to want to quit. Controlling for possible confounders, the hypotheses were all confirmed. Further analysis into reported considerations for quitting revealed that price of cigarettes, health professional advice, cheap quitting medication, and information on health risks were important predictors of quitting intention, with cigarette price and cheap medication also associated with recent quit attempts. Together, these findings have important implications for developing strategies for encouraging older smokers to give up smoking. D
2016
Rationale: Smoking behavior differs substantially between lower and higher socioeconomic status (SES) groups. Previous research shows that social support for quitting may be more available to higher-SES smokers, and higher-SES smokers may have stronger nonsmoker self-identities (i.e., can see themselves more as nonsmokers). Objective: To investigate how SES influences smoking behavior, taking the role of identity processes and social support into account. Method: A cross-sectional online survey study was conducted among 387 daily smokers from lower, middle and higher-SES groups in the Netherlands in 2014. Educational level was used as an indicator of SES. Expected and desired social support for quitting smoking, expected exclusion from the social network when quitting, identity factors and intention to quit were measured. Results: Smokers from all SES backgrounds desired to receive positive social support if they would quit smoking. Lower-SES smokers expected to receive more negative and practical support than middle or higher-SES smokers. There were no significant differences between SES groups for almost all identity measures, nor on intention to quit. Above and beyond other important influences such as nicotine-dependence, results showed that smokers regardless of SES who expected to receive more positive support tended to have stronger intentions to quit. Moreover, smokers who could see themselves more as being quitters (quitter self-identity) and perceived themselves less as smokers (smoker self-identity), as well as smokers who felt more positive about nonsmokers (nonsmoker group-identity) had stronger intentions to quit. No significant interactions with SES were found. Conclusion: The results suggest that developing ways to stimulate the social environment to provide adequate support for smokers who intend to quit, and developing ways to strengthen identification with quitting in smokers may help smokers to quit successfully. Findings further suggest that the possible-self as a quitter is more important than the current-self as a smoker.