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Self-Exempting Beliefs and Intention to Quit Smoking within a Socially Disadvantaged Australian Sample of Smokers

An investigation of beliefs used to rationalise smoking will have important implications for the content of anti-smoking programs targeted at socioeconomically disadvantaged groups, who show the lowest rates of cessation in the population. This study aimed to assess the types of self-exempting belie...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Guillaumier, Ashleigh, Bonevski, Billie, Paul, Christine, D’Este, Catherine, Twyman, Laura, Palazzi, Kerrin, Oldmeadow, Christopher
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2016
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4730509/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26761022
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph13010118
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author Guillaumier, Ashleigh
Bonevski, Billie
Paul, Christine
D’Este, Catherine
Twyman, Laura
Palazzi, Kerrin
Oldmeadow, Christopher
author_facet Guillaumier, Ashleigh
Bonevski, Billie
Paul, Christine
D’Este, Catherine
Twyman, Laura
Palazzi, Kerrin
Oldmeadow, Christopher
author_sort Guillaumier, Ashleigh
collection PubMed
description An investigation of beliefs used to rationalise smoking will have important implications for the content of anti-smoking programs targeted at socioeconomically disadvantaged groups, who show the lowest rates of cessation in the population. This study aimed to assess the types of self-exempting beliefs reported by a sample of socioeconomically disadvantaged smokers, and identify associations between these beliefs and other smoking-related factors with quit intentions. A cross-sectional survey was conducted from March–December 2012 with smokers seeking welfare assistance in New South Wales (NSW), Australia (n = 354; response rate 79%). Responses to a 16-item self-exempting beliefs scale and intention to quit, smoker identity, and enjoyment of smoking were assessed. Most participants earned <AUD$400/week (70%), and had not completed secondary schooling (64%). All “jungle” beliefs (normalising the dangers of smoking due to ubiquity of risk) and selected “skeptic” beliefs were endorsed by 25%–47% of the sample, indicating these smokers may not fully understand the extensive risks associated with smoking. Smokers with limited quit intentions held significantly stronger self-exempting beliefs than those contemplating or preparing to quit (all p < 0.01). After adjusting for smoking-related variables only “skeptic” beliefs were significantly associated with intention to quit (p = 0.02). Some of these beliefs are incorrect and could be addressed in anti-smoking campaigns.
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spelling pubmed-47305092016-02-11 Self-Exempting Beliefs and Intention to Quit Smoking within a Socially Disadvantaged Australian Sample of Smokers Guillaumier, Ashleigh Bonevski, Billie Paul, Christine D’Este, Catherine Twyman, Laura Palazzi, Kerrin Oldmeadow, Christopher Int J Environ Res Public Health Article An investigation of beliefs used to rationalise smoking will have important implications for the content of anti-smoking programs targeted at socioeconomically disadvantaged groups, who show the lowest rates of cessation in the population. This study aimed to assess the types of self-exempting beliefs reported by a sample of socioeconomically disadvantaged smokers, and identify associations between these beliefs and other smoking-related factors with quit intentions. A cross-sectional survey was conducted from March–December 2012 with smokers seeking welfare assistance in New South Wales (NSW), Australia (n = 354; response rate 79%). Responses to a 16-item self-exempting beliefs scale and intention to quit, smoker identity, and enjoyment of smoking were assessed. Most participants earned <AUD$400/week (70%), and had not completed secondary schooling (64%). All “jungle” beliefs (normalising the dangers of smoking due to ubiquity of risk) and selected “skeptic” beliefs were endorsed by 25%–47% of the sample, indicating these smokers may not fully understand the extensive risks associated with smoking. Smokers with limited quit intentions held significantly stronger self-exempting beliefs than those contemplating or preparing to quit (all p < 0.01). After adjusting for smoking-related variables only “skeptic” beliefs were significantly associated with intention to quit (p = 0.02). Some of these beliefs are incorrect and could be addressed in anti-smoking campaigns. MDPI 2016-01-11 2016-01 /pmc/articles/PMC4730509/ /pubmed/26761022 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph13010118 Text en © 2016 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons by Attribution (CC-BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Guillaumier, Ashleigh
Bonevski, Billie
Paul, Christine
D’Este, Catherine
Twyman, Laura
Palazzi, Kerrin
Oldmeadow, Christopher
Self-Exempting Beliefs and Intention to Quit Smoking within a Socially Disadvantaged Australian Sample of Smokers
title Self-Exempting Beliefs and Intention to Quit Smoking within a Socially Disadvantaged Australian Sample of Smokers
title_full Self-Exempting Beliefs and Intention to Quit Smoking within a Socially Disadvantaged Australian Sample of Smokers
title_fullStr Self-Exempting Beliefs and Intention to Quit Smoking within a Socially Disadvantaged Australian Sample of Smokers
title_full_unstemmed Self-Exempting Beliefs and Intention to Quit Smoking within a Socially Disadvantaged Australian Sample of Smokers
title_short Self-Exempting Beliefs and Intention to Quit Smoking within a Socially Disadvantaged Australian Sample of Smokers
title_sort self-exempting beliefs and intention to quit smoking within a socially disadvantaged australian sample of smokers
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4730509/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26761022
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph13010118
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