Predictors of smoking cessation patterns among adolescents

Although 50% of adolescent smokers report trying to quit and 80% think about quitting, little is known about the natural history of smoking cessation in this population. We used data from the Minnesota Adolescent Community Cohort (MACC) study to identify smoking cessation patterns and their predictors. MACC study participants, ages 12-16 at baseline in 2000, were interviewed every six months to obtain smoking status and related characteristics. From 4839 adolescents, 1310 who had smoked in the past 30 days, with at least three survey periods of data after becoming a smoker, formed our study population. A subsequent self-report of not smoking led to the adolescent's classification as a quitter. Latent class growth analysis was used to examine trajectories of quitting behavior. Predictors of quitting patterns were then analyzed with mixed model regression. We identified four trajectories or patterns of smoking cessation: successful quitters (15%), relapsers (14.3%), eventual quitters (11.2%), and never quitters (59.6%). Males were more likely than females to be successful quitters (OR= 1.2, 95% CI 1.1-1.3) or eventual quitters (OR=1.1, 95% CI 1.0-1.2) relative to non-quitters. Having family members who smoked decreased the likelihood of being a successful quitter (OR=0.5, 95% CI 0.3-0.8), or eventual quitter (OR=0.7, 95% CI 0.5-1.0). Past quit attempts were associated with being a relapser. Self-efficacy to quit, being somewhat or very addicted, or intent to quit were not associated with cessation patterns after multivariate adjustment. These results distinguish patterns of quitting that may require different interventions to help adolescents quit smoking.