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CENTURY
Yale University
School of Medicine
SAC-203
Connecticut
Mental Health Center
34 Park Street
New Haven, CT 06519

Phone:
203-974-7591

Fax:
203-974-7606

E-mail:
infocentury@yale.edu

CENTURY/TTURC Press Release

Perception of risk can affect smoker's desire and ability to quit

There are many risks associated with smoking. But some smokers, particularly women, believe there are risks associated with quitting, too.

Their perception of those risks -- which include gaining weight, becoming stressed out and less able to focus, and losing a connection with friends who smoke – sometimes reduces the smoker's motivation to quit. They also can make a quit attempt less likely to succeed, according to a new Yale study. The relationship between the perception of risks and failed quit attempts was particularly high among women smokers, the study says

The study found that perceived benefits associated with quitting – such as improved health and well being, increased self-esteem and more money to spend on other things – was positively associated with a smoker's motivation to quit. Likewise, the perception of risks was negatively associated with motivation and outcome. This was true of men and women. However, in women, there was a much stronger relationship between the perception of risks, reduced desire to quit and reduced ability to quit.

"In other words, given the same perception of risks between a man and a woman, the woman was four times more likely to relapse," said Dr. Sherry McKee, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the department of psychiatry at Yale. Dr. McKee is a principal investigator with the Transdisciplinary Tobacco Use Research Center (TTURC) at Yale.

"Dispelling some of these notions that people have about quitting would be worthwhile. For the most part these perceived risks are short term. And the benefits from quitting smoking far outweigh any short-term discomfort that comes along with quitting," Dr. McKee said.

Dr. McKee's study was designed to examine gender differences in the perception of the risks and benefits associated with quitting, and their relationship to motivation to quit and the success of the quit attempt.

The results of the study, published in the March issue of Addictive Behaviors, could help with the development of more effective smoking cessation programs, public education campaigns and intervention strategies designed to help people stop smoking, according to the researcher who wrote the study.

Dr. McKee said this suggests that the perception of risk should be addressed in cessation programs.

"Treatments should address the specific concerns of men and women," she said. "For women, we should address concerns about weight, the ability to handle stress and a reduced ability to concentrate. For example, some women believe that they will gain 20 pounds if they try to quit. But the truth is that most people gain five pounds or less during a quit attempt. Now, five pounds is five pounds, but it's not 20."

The study also suggests that for men, information that highlights the benefits of quitting might increase their motivation to quit.

The study also resulted in the development of a questionnaire, the Perceived Risks and Benefits Questionnaire (PRBQ), which will allow other researchers to assess perceived risks and benefits in future smoking cessation studies.

"Most smoking investigations just highlight the benefits," Dr. McKee said. "Very little work has been done acknowledging perceived risk. There was no comprehensive assessment to measure both perceived risks and benefits. So we developed this questionnaire."

The questionnaire is being used across all studies in the Yale TTURC group and is available to other researchers as part of the published study.

The Yale TTURC is part of the Center for Nicotine and Tobacco Use Research at Yale (CENTURY) and is one of seven research centers nationwide conducting a diverse spectrum of transdisciplinary tobacco-related research. It is funded by the National Cancer Institute, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, the National Institute on Drug Abuse, and The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. More information is available at www.quitwithyale.org

Smokers interested in participating in TTURC smoking cessation studies may call 203-974-7588.

The citation and abstract for the study are:

McKee, S.A., O'Malley, S.S., Salovey,, P., Krishnan-Sarin S., Mazure, C.M. (2005). Perceived risks and benefits of smoking cessation: Gender-specific predictors of motivation and treatment outcome. Addictive Behaviors. 30(3):423-35.

The primary aim of this study was to examine gender differences in perceived risks and benefits of smoking cessation and their relationship to pretreatment motivation and treatment outcome. No validated measures that comprehensively assess perceived risks and benefits associated with smoking cessation were available in the literature; consequently, we developed a self-report instrument [Perceived Risks and Benefits Questionnaire (PRBQ)] for this purpose. A sample of 573 treatment-seeking smokers (48% female) entering smoking cessation trials completed the PRBQ, and its association with treatment outcome was assessed in a subsample of 93 participants. Overall, the PRBQ demonstrated good psychometric properties. Females indicated greater likelihood ratings of perceived risks and benefits than males. For women and men, perceived benefits were positively associated with motivation, and perceived risks were negatively associated with motivation and treatment outcome. Women evidenced stronger associations between perceived risks and pretreatment motivation, and treatment outcome. Knowledge of perceived risks and benefits associated with smoking cessation is critical for public education campaigns and could inform intervention strategies designed to modify sex-specific beliefs associated with lowered behavioral intentions to quit smoking.