Kristina Hunter-Mullis is a first-year doctoral student in Health Behavior. She is a Certified Health Education Specialist and has worked in the alcohol, tobacco, and other drug prevention field for the last eight years, focusing on community capacity building, intervention design and implementation, and health policy. Her research interests include how policy, systems, and environmental change influence health behaviors, particularly tobacco use and cessation in rural areas. She holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism/public relations and a master’s in health promotion from Indiana University.

Factors Associated with Intention to Stop Smoking Among Adults with Mental Illness: Applying the Reasoned Action Approach

Background: Adults with mental illness are disproportionately affected by tobacco use and are a priority for cessation interventions. The objective of this study was to apply the Reasoned Action Approach to assess the effects of attitude, perceived norm and perceived behavioral control on intention to take smoking cessation measures.

Methods: We recruited a sample of adults with mental illness and comorbid tobacco use disorder (N=65) from a Midwestern behavioral health care clinic to a smoking cessation intervention study. Clinic staff identified eligible adults, and study staff confirmed eligibility. Data for this analysis were from a baseline survey completed prior to the cessation intervention. Multiple linear regression analyses assessed the associations between attitude, perceived norm and perceived behavioral control and intention to take cessation measures, while controlling for demographic factors and smoking behavior.

Results: Perceived norm (Î²=.27, Standard Error (SE)=0.09, p=0.006) and number of friends who smoke (Î²=.09, SE=0.04, p=0.03) were significantly associated with intention to take smoking cessation measures. The mean number of participants’ five closest friends who also smoked cigarettes was 3.4 (SD=1.6). There were no significant effects of attitude, perceived behavioral control, age, gender, nicotine dependence, or number of cigarettes smoked per day on intention.

Conclusions: Intention to take tobacco cessation measures was impacted by perceived normative beliefs and the number of smoking friends. These findings suggest that future cessation interventions should consider addressing the role of peer influences when attempting to reduce smoking among individuals with mental illness.

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