Development and testing of the barriers to cessation scale

The purpose of this research was to develop and test a measure of barriers to smoking cessation. Barriers, reconceptualized within the Transactional Model of Stress (Lazarus, 1966), reflect specific stressors associated with smoking cessation. The measure consists of a 19-item scale, which has been tested in three studies. Cronbach's alpha coefficients ranged from .81 to .87. Construct validity was demonstrated by correlations between barriers scores and scores on the Daily Hassles Scale (DeLongis, Folkman, & Lazarus, 1988). Predictive validity was demonstrated by findings that barriers scores significantly contributed to classification of abstainers versus relapsers 8 weeks after smoking cessation group participants quit smoking.