Why It Is Difficult for Military Personnel to Quit Smoking: From the Perspective of Compensatory Health Beliefs

Compensatory health beliefs are barriers to healthy behavior. In an effort to understand how the prevalence of these beliefs can be reduced in individuals, 376 valid questionnaires were collected from combat troops in Taiwan. The collected data were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modelling. It was found that positive attitudes towards smoking cessation had significant negative effects on compensatory health beliefs, while negative attitudes towards smoking cessation significantly enhanced the level of compensatory health beliefs. The motivation for smoking cessation was also found to reinforce the negative effect of positive attitudes towards compensatory health beliefs, while it did not have any significant effect on the relationship between negative attitudes and compensatory health beliefs. Three subconstructs of compensatory health beliefs (exercise, eating habits, and amount of smoking) were found to have simultaneous effects for military personnel. Finally, this study explored the causes of the above-mentioned phenomena, and measures that could reduce the prevalence of compensatory health beliefs were suggested.