title: Examining educational attainment, prepregnancy smoking rate, and delay discounting as predictors of spontaneous quitting among pregnant smokers.
abstract: We investigated three potential predictors (educational attainment, prepregnancy smoking rate, and delay discounting [DD]) of spontaneous quitting among pregnant smokers. These predictors were examined alone and in combination with other potential predictors using study-intake assessments from controlled clinical trials examining the efficacy of financial incentives for smoking cessation and relapse prevention. Data from 349 pregnant women (231 continuing smokers and 118 spontaneous quitters) recruited from the greater Burlington, VT, area contributed to this secondary analysis, including psychiatric/sociodemographic characteristics, smoking characteristics, and performance on a computerized DD task. Educational attainment, smoking rate, and DD values were each significant predictors of spontaneous quitting in univariate analyses. A model examining those three predictors together retained educational attainment as a main effect and revealed a significant interaction of DD and smoking rate (i.e., DD was a significant predictor at lower but not higher smoking rates). A final model considering all potential predictors, included education, the interaction of DD and smoking rate, and five additional predictors (i.e., stress ratings, the belief that smoking during pregnancy will "greatly harm my baby," age of smoking initiation, marital status, and prior quit attempts during pregnancy). The study presented here contributes new knowledge on predictors of spontaneous quitting among pregnant smokers with substantive practical implications for reducing smoking during pregnancy.
authors: Vermont Center on Behavior and Health, Department of Psychiatry, University of Vermont.
authors: Thomas J
authors: TJ
authors: White
authors: Vermont Center on Behavior and Health, Department of Psychiatry, University of Vermont.
authors: Ryan
authors: R
authors: Redner
authors: Department of Medical Biostatistics, University of Vermont.
authors: Joan M
authors: JM
authors: Skelly
authors: Vermont Center on Behavior and Health, Department of Psychiatry, University of Vermont.
authors: Stephen T
authors: ST
authors: Higgins
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D065786:Delay Discounting / Q000502:physiology*; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011247:Pregnancy; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016540:Smoking Cessation / Q000523:psychology*; D000074606:Smoking Prevention; D013997:Time Factors; D055815:Young Adult