Degree
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Clinical Psychology
Document Type
Dissertation
Abstract
The primary aims of the current study were to examine if smoking expectancies and readiness to quit smoking, important components in predicting smoking behavior and cessation, changed across time for adult smokers in substance use treatment. Participants (N = 51) were predominantly white (96.1%), adult, male smokers who were admitted to residential substance use treatment. Smoking outcome expectancies and readiness to change smoking were assessed among participants at treatment entry (n = 51), and subsequently at 30 days (n = 13), 60 days (n = 9), and 90 days (n = 3) from treatment entry. Ninety-day follow-up assessments were excluded from outcome analyses due to significant participant attrition. At baseline, the majority of participants were in the contemplation (40%) or preparation (action) (40%) stage of change for smoking cessation. Repeated measures analyses of variance (ANOVAs) revealed a significant decrease in health risk and negative affect reduction smoking expectancies across time points. Readiness to change smoking did not significantly differ across time points. Existing literature on smoking expectancies has shown that elevated health risk beliefs predict cessation treatment entry, whereas elevated expectations for negative affect reduction predict relapse after a cessation attempt. Findings in the current study suggest that manipulation of health risk expectancies at treatment entry may increase engagement in a subsequent cessation attempt. In addition, negative affect reduction expectancies may change with the acquisition of alternate skills to manage negative affect learned in substance use treatment. Although readiness to change smoking did not increase over time in substance use treatment, the majority of smokers at baseline were already in the contemplation and preparation stages for quitting smoking. Based on the current findings, the optimal time for smoking cessation intervention efforts may be between 30 to 60 days after entering substance use treatment.
Date
9-17-2020
Recommended Citation
Waters, Aaron French, "Readiness to Change and Smoking Expectancies Among Adult Male Substance Users Currently in Substance Use Treatment" (2020). LSU Doctoral Dissertations. 5366.
https://repository.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations/5366
Committee Chair
Copeland, Amy
DOI
10.31390/gradschool_dissertations.5366