Date of Conferral

2015

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Psychology

Advisor

Diana Jeffery

Abstract

Smoking relapse rates among tobacco users remain high after quit attempts, with or without interventions. Though researchers have examined stress-related factors contributing to high relapse rate, little empirical research has concentrated on variables predicting long-term quit maintenance. The purpose of this study was to determine the predictability of stress management tools, including exercise motivation, eating behaviors, social support, and self-compassion, as well as the significant combined variance of these variables, in a person's long-term maintenance with tobacco use abstinence. Bandura's social cognitive theory was used to highlight the factors contributing to health behavior such as tobacco use. This study involved a survey research method gathering quantitative data from former and current tobacco users (n = 90) recruited from a Social Psychology Network online sampling service. Multiple regression analysis was the statistical method used to determine the significance of the predictor variables from the collected data with an alpha level set at .05. According to study findings, self-compassion was the only variable that accounted for the variance in the length of the longest quit attempt. This study contributes to positive social change as it offers findings that may be valuable to the health care providers more effective treatment strategies in treating tobacco users, leading to lowered health care costs. Increased likelihood of long-term tobacco cessation may result from identification and application of quit smoking tools through treatment interventions.

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