Examining Smoking Dependence Motives among African American Light Smokers

Despite smoking fewer cigarettes per day, African American smokers have greater difficulty quitting compared to Caucasian smokers. Further elucidating the impact of smoking motivations on smoking behavior would contribute to understanding the factors that maintain smoking.

This study examined the factor structure of a brief assessment examining smoking dependence motives among a sample of African American light smokers.

Data from a double-blind, placebo-controlled randomized smoking cessation trial involving 540 participants. Results were analyzed using an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and a randomly split EFA.

Findings from the initial EFA analysis produced an 8-factor model, explaining 69% of the variation in responses. The overall Measure of Sampling Adequacy (MSA) was 0.88 with item level MSA ranging 0.68-0.94 across the 30 items. Results from the randomly split EFA replicated the findings of the original EFA; with the exception of the item "I smoke within the first 30 minutes of awakening in the morning".

These findings support the hypothesis of a multidimensional approach to conceptualizing nicotine dependence, and provide information regarding characteristics of nicotine dependence in African American light smokers which may be helpful in identifying targets for cessation treatment in this population of smokers.