Smoking cessation was difficult for adolescents because of daily life stressors and the need for major lifestyle changes

摘要

QUESTIONWhat are the beliefs and experiences of adolescents related to quitting smoking?DESIGNGrounded theory.SETTING3 high schools in New York City and 6 community-based organisations.PARTICIPANTS54 adolescents 16-18 years of age (63% men) who had smoked >100 cigarettes in their lifetime and had attempted to quit smoking at least once.METHODS46 adolescents participated in individual interviews (45-60 min), and 31 participated in focus group sessions (60-75 min). Interviews and focus groups addressed different aspects of quitting smoking, including what quitting meant, history of smoking and quit attempts, self-identification as smokers or ex-smokers, reasons to quit, strategies for resisting urges to smoke, influences affecting quitting, and quit methods. Interviews were audiotaped, transcribed verbatim, coded using an inductive approach, and analysed for themes using grounded theory. Focus groups comprised 4-7 participants per group and were audio-taped (6 groups) and videotaped (3 groups).