The Predictive Utility of Valuing the Future for Smoking Cessation: Findings from the ITC 4 Country Surveys

Ron Borland, Michael Le Grande, Bryan W. Heckman, Geoffrey T. Fong, Warren K. Bickel, Jeff S. Stein, Katherine A. East, Peter A. Hall and Kenneth Michael Cummings
Additional contact information
Ron Borland: School of Psychological Sciences, University of Melbourne, Parkville 3010, Australia
Michael Le Grande: School of Psychological Sciences, University of Melbourne, Parkville 3010, Australia
Bryan W. Heckman: Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC 29425, USA
Geoffrey T. Fong: Department of Psychology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1, Canada
Warren K. Bickel: Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at Virginia Tech Carilion, Roanoke, VA 24016, USA
Jeff S. Stein: Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at Virginia Tech Carilion, Roanoke, VA 24016, USA
Katherine A. East: School of Public Health Sciences, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1, Canada
Peter A. Hall: School of Public Health Sciences, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1, Canada
Kenneth Michael Cummings: Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC 29425, USA

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 2, 1-22

Abstract: Background: Delay discounting (DD) and time perspective (TP) are conceptually related constructs that are theorized as important determinants of the pursuit of future outcomes over present inclinations. This study explores their predictive relationships for smoking cessation. Methods: 5006 daily smokers at a baseline wave provided 6710 paired observations of quitting activity between two waves. Data are from the International Tobacco Control (ITC) smoking and vaping surveys with samples from the USA, Canada, England, and Australia, across three waves conducted in 2016, 2018 and 2020. Smokers were assessed for TP and DD, plus smoking-specific predictors at one wave of cessation outcomes defined as either making a quit attempt and/or success among those who tried to quit which was ascertained at the subsequent survey wave. Results: TP and DD were essentially uncorrelated. TP predicted making quit attempts, both on its own and controlling for other potential predictors but was negatively associated with quit success. By contrast, DD was not related to making quit attempts, but high DD predicted relapse. The presence of financial stress at baseline resulted in some moderation of effects. Conclusions: Understanding the mechanisms of action of TP and DD can advance our understanding of, and ability to enhance, goal-directed behavioural change. TP appears to contribute to future intention formation, but not necessarily practical thought of how to achieve goals. DD is more likely an index of capacity to effectively generate competing future possibilities in response to immediate gratification.

Keywords: delay discounting; time perspective; smoking cessation; longitudinal study; financial stress (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/2/631/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/2/631/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:2:p:631-:d:718875

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().