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The psychological determinants of low‐rate daily smoking
Author(s) -
Etter JeanFrançois
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
addiction
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.424
H-Index - 193
eISSN - 1360-0443
pISSN - 0965-2140
DOI - 10.1111/j.1360-0443.2004.00839.x
Subject(s) - transtheoretical model , medicine , demography , quit smoking , smoking cessation , population , tobacco control , public health , environmental health , psychiatry , psychological intervention , nursing , pathology , sociology
Aims To compare low‐rate daily smokers (one to five cigarettes/day) with other daily smokers, using the Transtheoretical Model of Change as a framework. Design Mail survey with a follow‐up after 7 months. Setting A randomly selected population sample in French‐speaking Switzerland, in 1998. Participants A total of 2338 daily smokers aged 25 + years, including 95 smokers of one to five cigarettes/day, 324 smokers of six to 10 cigarettes/day, 399 smokers of 11–15 cigarettes/day and 1520 smokers of 16 + cigarettes/day, and 1765 people (75% of 2338) at 7‐month follow‐up. Findings Compared with smokers of 16 + cigarettes/day, low‐rate smokers of one to five cigarettes/day included more women (67% versus 46%, P < 0.001), were 4 years younger ( P < 0.001), were less motivated to quit smoking (62% versus 37% in the ‘precontemplation’ stage of change, P < 0.001), thought that quitting would be easier (−3.4 points on a 0–10 scale, P < 0.001) and were less bothered by the risk of smoking. Low‐rate smokers were taking control more actively over their smoking, e.g. they more often stayed away from places where people smoked, sat in the no‐smoking sections in public places and tried to delay as much as they could their first cigarette of the day. Only 45% of low‐rate smokers were still in the same category 7 months later. Conclusions For many smokers, low‐rate smoking may result from a conscious effort to limit their cigarette consumption. Being a low‐rate smoker was a temporary condition for most people. Low‐rate smokers should be considered as a specific, although heterogeneous group.