 Smoking behavior in persons with a schizophrenia-spectrum disorder: a qualitative investigation of the transtheoretical modelMichelle L. Esterberg and Michael T. Compton Social Science & Medicine, 2005, vol. 61, issue 2, 293-303 Abstract: Smoking rates among persons with schizophrenia are up to three times the rates of the general US population, and research has shown that it is difficult to design cessation programs for people with schizophrenia that take into account their various cognitive and social deficits. More research is needed on the attitudes and priorities of people with schizophrenia in order to design and implement effective smoking cessation programs. Additionally, more research should be conducted with first-episode psychosis and chronic schizophrenia patients to investigate possible differences between these two groups. The purpose of this study, conducted in Atlanta, USA, was to use qualitative methodology to assess the Transtheoretical Model (TTM) in the context of smoking behavior in a sample of participants with schizophrenia-spectrum disorders. Data were obtained via interviews with 12 participants with either first-episode or chronic schizophrenia-spectrum disorders who smoked cigarettes. Differences between the two subsets of the sample were assessed. Results clustered into the following prevalent themes: (1) pros and cons of smoking; (2) beliefs about smoking cessation; (3) external influences on smoking and quitting; and (4) negative attitudes toward nicotine replacement therapies (NRT). Findings indicate that the majority of participants were in the precontemplation stage of quitting smoking, and that the primary advantages of smoking for this sample were relief from anxiety and negative symptoms. Important differences were found between chronic and first-episode participants in the areas of readiness-to-quit and beliefs about smoking cessation. Other findings indicate a lack of cessation programs offered to this sample, and overall negative attitudes toward NRT. Future interventions should take into account the reported pros and cons of smoking in this population, as well as other beliefs and attitudes regarding smoking behavior. Keywords: First-episode; psychosis; Schizophrenia; Smoking; cessation; Transtheoretical; model; USA (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:socmed:v:61:y:2005:i:2:p:293-303 Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from Access Statistics for this article Social Science & Medicine is currently edited by Ichiro (I.) Kawachi and S.V. (S.V.) Subramanian More articles in Social Science & Medicine from Elsevier |
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