Motivation and reasons to quit: predictive validity among adolescent smokers

OBJECTIVES: To examine reasons to quit among adolescents in a smoking cessation program, and whether reasons were associated with subsequent cessation. METHODS: Participants were 351 adolescents. At baseline, adolescents reported motivation, reasons to quit, and stage of change for cessation. Quit status was assessed at end of treatment. RESULTS: Girls were more likely to endorse image and appearance reasons to quit. Cessation was more likely among adolescents with higher motivation and those wanting to quit because of friends. CONCLUSIONS: Different reasons to quit were associated with motivation and cessation. Baseline motivation strongly predicted cessation, suggesting the relative value of assessing global motivation.