The Smoking Motives Scale: A tool to evaluate motivations to smoke in adolescence.

Early onset of cigarette smoking remains a significant public health problem. The acquisition and maintenance of smoking in adolescence is widely seen as a progression from sporadic, socially motivated smoking to regular smoking motivated primarily by nicotine dependence. A better understanding of motives in different phases of the process is crucial to the development of more successful cessation interventions for adolescents. Current assessments of nicotine dependence targeting adults may not be as valid for adolescent smokers. Such measures usually prioritize nicotine dependence rather than multiple motives for smoking. A new instrument, the Smoking Motives Scale (SMS), was developed to assess three hypothetical dimensions of motives: (1) social, (2) affect management, and (3) physical dependence on nicotine. There were 1,933 subjects in the study, with 277 (14%) subjects reporting current regular smoking. Principal axis factor analysis confirmed the three hypothesized smoking motive factors: (1) Social Facilitation smoking motive (Cronbach's alpha = .8572), (2) Affect Management smoking motive (alpha = .8933), (3) Physical Dependence smoking motive (alpha = .8224). Comparisons were made between the performance of the SMS and of the Fagerstrom Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND). The SMS yielded a higher overall alpha than the FTND (SMS alpha = .9002, FTND alpha = .6257). This result was strengthened by the fact that the SMS does not include cigarette consumption. Construct validity was also tested in comparative analyses of variance explained (R2) in a group of nicotine dependence validation variables by the SMS and the FTND. The SMS Physical Dependence factor explained more variance in every external validation variable than the FTND. Confirmation of these findings and further development of the SMS requires larger and more ethnically and geographically diverse populations, as well as a wider range of ages.Ph.D.EducationHealth and Environmental SciencesHealth educationPsychologyPublic healthQuantitative psychologyUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/130832/2/3042194.pd