Risk perception and motivation to quit smoking: a partial test of the Health Action Process Approach

Introduction: The Health Action Process Approach (HAPA) posits a distinction between pre-intentional motivation processes and a post-intentional volition process that leads to the actual behavior change. For smoking cessation, the HAPA predicts that increased risk perceptions would foster a decision to quit smoking. From a cross-sectional perspective, the HAPA predicts that those who do not intend to quit (non-intenders) should have lower risk perceptions than those who do intend to quit (intenders).

Method: Adult smokers participated in a cross-sectional survey. Multiple measures of motivation to quit smoking and risk perceptions for smoking were assessed. ANOVA and contrast analysis were employed for data analysis.

Results: The results were generally supportive of the HAPA. Non-intenders had systematically lower risk perceptions compared to intenders. Most of these findings were statistically significant.

Conclusion: The results demonstrated that risk perceptions distinguish non-intenders from intenders. These results suggest that smokers low in motivation to quit could benefit from information and reminders about the serious health problems caused by smoking.