Skip Navigation

Nicotine & Tobacco Research 2008 10(1):195-200; doi:10.1080/14622200701767803
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Toll, B. A.
Right arrow Articles by McKee, S. A.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Toll, B. A.
Right arrow Articles by McKee, S. A.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© 2008 Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco

Message Framing for Smoking Cessation: The Interaction of Risk Perceptions and Gender

Benjamin A. Toll, Ph.D., Peter Salovey, Ph.D., Stephanie S. O'Malley, Ph.D., Carolyn M. Mazure, Ph.D., Amy Latimer, Ph.D. and Sherry A. McKee, Ph.D.

Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine
Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, and Department of Psychology, Yale University
Department of Psychology, Yale University New Haven, CT

Correspondence: Benjamin A. Toll, Ph.D., Yale University School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, 1 Long Wharf Drive, Box 18, New Haven, CT 06511, USA. Tel: +1 (203) 974-5767; Fax: +1 (203) 974-5790; E-mail: benjamin.toll{at}yale.edu


  Abstract

Because quitting smoking is clearly linked to preventing health problems such as lung cancer, research on health message framing based on prospect theory suggests that gain-framed messages (i.e., emphasizing the benefits of quitting smoking) would be more persuasive in promoting cessation than loss-framed messages (i.e., emphasizing the costs of continuing to smoke). However, because women tend to anticipate greater perceived risk from quitting smoking than men, this may affect how receptive they are to specific message framing interventions. Data from 249 participants (129 females, 120 males) in a clinical trial of message framing for smoking cessation with bupropion were used to examine how gender differences in perceptions of the risks associated with quitting influence the effects of framed interventions using number of days to smoking relapse as the criterion. Perceived risk of quitting scores were dichotomized using a median split for the entire sample. Women reported a higher perceived risk of cessation than men. Participants who anticipated high risks associated with quitting smoking reported fewer days to relapse. Further, females in the gain-framed condition who reported low perceived risks of cessation had a greater number of days to relapse, as opposed to females in the loss-framed condition. These findings suggest that message framing interventions for smoking cessation should consider the influence of gender and risk perceptions associated with quitting on the effectiveness of framed interventions.

Received: October 3, 2006; Accepted: April 25, 2007
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.