Two studies are reported in which the aim was to develop a short self-report scale to assess Motivation for Smoking Cessation in Teenagers (MSCT). An initial pool of 29 items was developed from previous work and through interviews with 50 teenagers in an attempt to assess the constructs of autonomous and controlled regulation. Using responses from a further 198 teenagers, Principal Component Analysis provided evidence for a two component structure, reflecting autonomous and controlled regulation. On the basis of these results, 12 items were selected on the basis of their component loadings in order to compose the final revised scale.
Adolescent and teenage smoking is an important area of concern because smokers at this age are likely to become adults with long term smoking behaviours resistant to attempts at cessation (e.g., Chassin et al., 2000, Janson, 1999 and Khudar et al., 1999). Consequently, targeting adolescents and teenagers for smoking cessation programs before they become habitual smokers is important (Rose et al., 1996 and Williams et al., 2002). Cessation programs among youth have, however, reported only limited success with low participation and high drop out rates (e.g., Burt and Peterson, 1998 and Stanton et al., 1996).
Evidence suggests that interventions for smoking cessation are most effective when harnessing intrinsic rather than extrinsic motivations (Curry et al., 1997, Curry et al., 1990 and Curry et al., 1991). The role of intrinsic motivation in various health behaviours has been investigated in the context of Self-Determination Theory (SDT; Deci and Ryan, 1985 and Deci and Ryan, 1996). SDT suggests that intrinsically motivated and autonomous behaviours are inherently fulfilling and rewarding for a person and therefore increase the likelihood of behaviour change (Deci et al., 1994 and Vallerand and Bissonette, 1992).
Despite the evidence for the role of autonomous motivation, studies have not specifically focused on adolescent and teenage motivations. The adolescent and teenage years are characterized by the developing need for personal freedom and autonomy. Smoking may be experienced as representing a sense of freedom and autonomy.
In other studies motivation/autonomous regulation has been assessed with the Treatment Self-Regulation Questionnaire (TSRQ) which is based on the work of (Ryan & Connell, 1989). As the general constructs of autonomous versus controlled motivation are applicable in many contexts, the specific phrasing, number of items, question stems and format of TSRQ has been revised by researchers according to the nature of investigation and context of behaviour studied. Only one study, however, reports using the TSRQ with adolescents (Williams, Cox, Kouides, & Deci, 1999). The aim of this study was to develop a version suitable for adolescents and teenagers.
In conclusion, this study was carried out to develop a motivation for smoking cessation scale for teenagers. The study provides further evidence for the constructs of autonomous versus controlled reasons for quitting smoking suggested by Self-Determination Theory. Further psychometric research is now required to validate the scale and to test whether it is able to predict successful quitting.
