Predictors of smoking cessation in U.S. adolescents

To identify factors that predict quitting among adolescent smokers.

Adolescent smokers aged 12-19 years (N = 633) from the national Teenage Attitudes and Practices Survey I (1989), were followed up in the Teenage Attitudes and Practices Survey II (1993). Multiple logistic regression was applied to identify the predictors of quitting.

A total of 15.6% of adolescent smokers had quit smoking at the follow-up survey four years later. There was no significant difference in the quit rate by age, gender, or ethnicity. Five baseline factors were identified in a multivariate analysis as significant predictors of quitting: frequency of smoking, length of past quit attempts, self-estimation of likelihood of continuing smoking, mother's smoking status, and depressive symptoms. The more risk factors the adolescents had, the less likely they would succeed in quitting.

Quitting smoking by adolescents is influenced by multiple biological, behavioral, and psychosocial variables. Identifying these variables can help tailor cessation programs to more effectively help adolescents quit smoking.