Measuring adolescent smoking cessation strategies: instrument development and initial validation.

A majority of adolescent smokers attempt cessation and report intentions to quit, yet little is known regarding the teen cessation process. To advance inquiry into the adolescent smoking cessation process the present report describes the development and initial evaluation of the Ways of Quitting questionnaire (WOQ), a measure designed to assess adolescent smoking cessation strategies. All participants were recruited from four public high schools in metropolitan San Diego, California. Items and questionnaire wording and format were developed based on responses from 36 adolescent participants in six focus groups. The resulting questionnaire included 28 cessation strategies. Descriptive and psychometric analyses were conducted for 88 adolescents who had previously attempted smoking cessation. For each WOQ item, respondents indicated whether they had used a given strategy and, if used, how helpful it was. The most frequently reported cessation methods included avoidance, reduction, and distraction strategies. These, along with social support strategies, received the highest helpfulness ratings. Formal intervention approaches were the least frequently used strategies. Formal methods also were rated as least helpful. Initial validation analyses on a subsample of participants revealed that use of more social support and smoking reduction strategies was significantly associated with length of abstinence following a cessation attempt. The present findings thus provide initial support for the utility and criterion validity of this newly developed measure.