Influence of Processes of Change on Stages of Change for Smoking Cessation

Abstract

Tobacco smoking is the leading cause of death in the world, accounting for more than eight million casualties. To reduce the prevalence of smoking, government and nongovernment players use interventions to reduce smoking and/or incite smoking cessation. These interventions are based on behavior change models. Foremost among those models is the Transtheoretical Model of Behavior Change developed by Dr Prochaska. The transtheoretical model theorizes that smoking cessation is a stage-wise change. This change is enabled by a set of processes of change. The current study identifies the relationship between two basic constructs of the model: processes of change and stages of change. The study also identifies the relative importance of different processes of change in different stages of change. Data analysis from this study shows that different processes of change have a differing influence on various stages of change. Experiential processes have a significant influence on the precessation stages and lack significant influence on the postcessation stages. On the contrary, behavioral processes have a significant influence on the postcessation stages and lack significant influence on the precessation stages.