AIM-To develop and validate a measure of smokers' expectancies for the abstinence process upon quitting smoking: the Smoking Abstinence Questionnaire (SAQ).DESIGN-Principal component analysis and other psychometric analyses of self-report data.
SETTING-San Francisco, California.PARTICIPANTS-507 adult smokers of at least 10 cigarettes per day diverse in gender, sexual orientation, and ethnoracial status. Gain. The SAQ factors demonstrated internal consistencies ranging from .62 to .85 and were associated with tobacco dependence, motivation to quit, abstinence self-efficacy, withdrawal symptoms, dietary restraint, shape and weight concern, and tobacco use expectancies. The SAQ predicted smoking-related constructs above and beyond tobacco use expectancies, suggesting that abstinence-related expectancies and tobacco use expectancies are distinct from one another.
MEASUREMENTS-TheCONCLUSIONS-A newly developed questionnaire, the SAQ, appears to reliably capture smokers' expectancies for abstinence (Withdrawal, Social Improvement/Nonsmoker Identity, Adverse Outcomes, Common Reasons, Optimistic Outcomes, Coffee Use, and Weight Gain) and expectancies related to the success of a quit attempt (Treatment Effectiveness, Barriers to Treatment, and Social Support). It remains to be seen how far any of these expectancies predict attempts to quit, withdrawal, treatment utilization and response, and quitting success above and beyond existing measures.
College women frequently report having experienced sexual victimization (SV) in their lifetime, including child sexual abuse and adolescent/adult sexual assault. Although the harmful mental health sequelae of SV have been extensively studied, recent research suggests that SV is also a risk factor for poorer college academic performance. The current studies examined whether exposure to SV uniquely predicted poorer college academic performance, even beyond contributions from three well-established predictors of academic performance: high school rank, composite standardized test scores (i.e., American College Testing [ACT]), and conscientiousness. Study 1 analyzed longitudinal data from a sample of female college students (N = 192) who were assessed at the beginning and end of one semester. SV predicted poorer cumulative end-of-semester grade point average (GPA) while controlling for well-established predictors of academic performance. Study 2 replicated these findings in a second longitudinal study of female college students (N = 390) and extended the analyses to include follow-up data on the freshmen and sophomore students (n = 206) 4 years later. SV predicted students' GPA in their final term at the university above the contributions of well-established academic predictors, and it was the only factor related to leaving college. These findings highlight the importance of expanding the scope of outcomes of SV to include academic performance, and they underscore the need to assess SV and other adverse experiences on college campuses to target students who may be at risk of poor performance or leaving college. (PsycINFO Database Record
Research has documented tobacco-related health disparities by race and
gender. Prior research, however, has not examined expectancies about the smoking
cessation process (i.e., abstinence-related expectancies) as potential
contributors to tobacco-related disparities in special populations. This
cross-sectional study compared abstinence-related expectancies between American
Indian (n = 87), African American (n = 151),
and White (n = 185) smokers, and between women
(n = 231) and men (n = 270) smokers.
Abstinence-related expectancies also were examined as mediators of race and
gender relationships with motivation to quit and abstinence self-efficacy.
Results indicated that American Indians and African Americans were less likely
than Whites to expect withdrawal effects, and more likely to expect that
quitting would be unproblematic. African Americans also were less likely than
Whites to expect smoking cessation interventions to be effective. Compared to
men, women were more likely to expect withdrawal effects and weight gain.These
expectancy differences mediated race and gender relationships with motivation to
quit and abstinence self-efficacy. Findings emphasize potential mechanisms
underlying tobacco-related health disparities among American Indians, African
Americans, and women, and suggest a number of specific approaches for targeting
tobacco dependence interventions to these populations.
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