Influence of Self-Efficacy and Decisional Balance on Children's Smoking Intention and Behavior

The purpose of this study is to explore the influence of self-efficacy and decisional balance on smoking intention and behavior in children. A cross sectional design was used in this study. The structured questionnaires were administered to 421 pre-adolescents aged 11 to 14 years who were recruited from two elementary schools and one junior high school in Taiwan. A random cluster sampling method was used in this study. Logistic regression procedures were used to test whether self-efficacy, pros of smoking, cons of smoking, age, gender were related to smoking intention and behavior. For smoking behavior, results showed that being a girl increased the odds of smoking 2.05 times; participants with every point increased in the Pros, the odds significantly went up 1.12 times of being in the smoking group; and participants with every point increased in the smoking self-efficacy survey (SSE), the odds went down 0.97 time of being in the smoking group. For smoking intention, results show that participants with every point increased in the SSE and the Pros, the odds were respectively 1.13 and 0.96 times of being prone to smoking in the near future. The findings showed that self-efficacy and pros of smoking are significantly related with smoking behavior and intention and it also suggested that that school nurses and health care providers need to develop an effective smoking prevention program based on self-efficacy and decision balance constructs for girls.