Motivation rulers for smoking cessation: a prospective observational examination of construct and predictive validity

Table 1 Descriptive Characteristics of Predictor Variables (N = 375)

Predictors	Frequencies (%)	Mean (SD)
Demographics
Age (in years)		41 (12)
Sex:
Male	164 (44%)
Female	210 (56%)
Race:
White	152 (41%)
Nonwhite	220 (59%)
Educational Status:
<High School	88 (24%)
High School Graduate	282 (75%)
Predictors
Nicotine Dependence		2.50 (1.62)
Importance Ruler¹		7.31 (3.06)
Readiness Ruler²		6.16 (3.38)
Confidence Ruler³		4.63 (5.00)
Stage of Change:
Precontemplation	166 (44%)
Contemplation	122 (33%)
Preparation	78 (21%)
Smoking Behavior Change (Two-Week Follow-Up)
Quit Attempt⁴	121 (32%)
Seven-Day Point Prevalence Abstinence⁵	24 (6%)
Smoking Behavior Change⁶:
Continuous smoker	254 (68%)
Relapse	97 (26%)
Successful change	24 (6%)

¹Importance ruler: 0 = “not at all important”; 10 = “the most important goal of my life.” ²Readiness ruler: 0 = “not at all ready”; 10 = “100% ready.” ³Confidence ruler: 0 = “not at all confident”; 10 = “100 % confident.” ⁴Quit attempt: 0 = Did not stop smoking for one day because trying to quit; 1 = Stopped smoking for one day because trying to quit. ⁵Seven-day point prevalence abstinence: 0 = Smoked at least a puff in the last seven days; 1 = Did not smoke even a puff in the last seven days. ⁶Smoking behavior change: relapse = a 24-hour quit attempt but back to smoking at two-week follow-up; continuous smoker = no 24-hour quit attempt; successful change = seven-day point prevalence abstinence at two-week follow-up.

ISSN: 1940-0640