Perceived addiction to smoking and associations with motivation to stop, quit attempts and quitting success: A prospective study of English smokers

AIMS: Some argue that perceived addiction to smoking (PAS) might undermine motivation to stop. We examined the association of PAS with motivation to stop in a population sample and assessed its association with past and future quit attempts and future quit success. METHOD: 12,700 smokers in England were surveyed between September 2009–March 2012 as part of the Smoking Toolkit Study. 2796 smokers were followed up after 6 months. PAS was assessed at baseline by a single self-report item. The outcome variables were ratings of motivation to stop and reports of past-year quit attempts at baseline, and quit attempts in the past 6 months and smoking status at follow-up. Baseline covariates were sex, age, social grade and daily cigarette consumption. RESULTS: In adjusted analyses, PAS was positively associated with at least some degree of motivation to stop versus no motivation (ORs = 1.97–2.96, all p's < 0.001). PAS was also positively associated with past-year quit attempts (OR = 1.43, 95% CI = 1.32–1.55, p < 0.001), but not with future quit attempts (OR = 1.17, 95% CI = 0.99–1.39, p = 0.064) or quit success (OR = 1.04, 95% CI = 0.73–1.47, p = 0.83). CONCLUSION: In smokers in England, perceived addiction to smoking is positively associated with motivation to stop and having recently made a quit attempt but is not clearly associated with future quit attempts or success. These findings provide no grounds for believing that increasing smokers' perceived addiction through promotion of stop-smoking support has undermined motivation to stop.