title: Smoking-related weight control expectancies among African American light smokers enrolled in a smoking cessation trial.
abstract: Concern about weight gain following smoking cessation has been frequently described in the literature. However, little is known about smoking-related weight expectancies among African American, light smokers (defined as < or = 10 cigarettes per day [CPD] for > 25 of last 30 days). Given the high rate of obesity among African Americans, concern about weight gain may be a significant barrier to cessation. The association of demographic, psychosocial and tobacco-related variables and smoking-related weight control expectancies were examined in 755 African American regular, light smokers enrolled in a smoking cessation trial (number of years smoked=23.9+11.9; CPD=7.6+/-3.2; age=45.1+/-10.7; BMI=31+/-8.1; 67% female). Overall, participants had minimal smoking-related weight control expectancies (M=3.7/10, SD+/-3.4); however, higher weight control expectancies were related to female gender, lower dietary fat intake and lower internal self-efficacy to refrain from smoking. Further, smoking-related weight control expectancies were not associated with cessation outcome at week-26. Findings suggest that weight control expectancies exist among some African American light smokers and are related to decreased self-efficacy to refrain from smoking. However, the relationship between smoking-related weight expectancies and health behaviors are complex and modest in magnitude.
authors.affiliation: University of Minnesota, Department of Medicine, Minneapolis, MN, USA. jthomas@umn.edu
authors.forename: Janet
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.forename: Kim
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Pulvers
authors.forename: Christie
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Befort
authors.forename: Carla
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Berg
authors.forename: Kolawole S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Okuyemi
authors.forename: Matthew
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mayo
authors.forename: Niaman
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Nazir
authors.forename: Jasjit S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Ahluwalia
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000523:psychology*; D001294:Attitude to Health / Q000208:ethnology*; D001835:Body Weight; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior / Q000208:ethnology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012907:Smoking / Q000523:psychology*; D016540:Smoking Cessation / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires