Examination of a hope- and fear-based message targeting older adults who smoke: A randomized trial

Older adults who smoke are half as likely to make a quit attempt, but more likely to maintain abstinence using evidence-based treatments. Awareness of the increased risk of dementia among people who currently smoke may motivate cessation in this population, but messages have not been tested. 820 adults who smoke, ages 50-80, with no history of dementia completed an online survey examining one of three randomly assigned messages (Control N = 266, Fear N = 274, Hope N = 280) on motivation and intentions to quit. Fear and Hope messages were based on the link between smoking and dementia. Fear increased motivation to quit [t(813) = 2.818, p = 0.005] more than Control. Hope did not differ from Control [t(813) = 1.908, p = 0.057] or Fear [t(813) = 0.937, p = 0.349] in change in motivation to quit. There were no differences between messages in change in intention to quit, F(2, 817) = 0.825, p = 0.439. Future work should examine feasibility and acceptability of fear-based motivational messages on quitting success.