Differences between 1-month quitters and relapsers in biospsychosocial characteristics among male smokers in Korea

PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to compare and contrast biopsychosocial characteristics and processes of change (POC) between 1-month quitters and relapsers among male smokers in Korea. METHODS This study employed a prospective study design. Forty-one male smokers were recruited on one university campus. The instruments used in this study included blood pressure (BP), body mass index, salivary cortisol, perceived stress, self-efficacy, and POC. After collection of baseline data, participants were encouraged to adopt smoking cessation, either by obtaining smoking cessation counseling or self-abstinence. Baseline data and data collected after 1 month from smoking cessation were compared. RESULTS The mean age of the participants was 24.9 years (SD = 1.90 years), and 51.2% were overweight or obese. According to results of the study, SBP, DBP, and perceived stress were significantly lower, whereas self-efficacy was significantly higher among quitters, compared with relapsers, after 1 month (p < .05). Results of within-group comparison indicated that, among POC, self-liberation, helping relationship, and reinforcement management showed a significant decrease among 1-month relapsers (p < .05), whereas, counter conditioning showed a significant increase among 1-month quitters (p < .05). CONCLUSIONS According to the results of this study, BP and perceived stress showed a significant decrease among 1-month quitters, whereas those less likely to utilize behavioral processes were more likely to have relapsed after 1 month.