Psychometric properties of a Brief Smoking Consequences Questionnaire for Adults (SCQ-A) among African American light smokers.

Despite a decline in cigarette smoking over the past few decades, rates remain unacceptably high for certain segments of the population, such as urban African Americans (AAs). AA smokers, on average, smoke fewer cigarettes per day than European American samples; however, AA smokers are less likely to achieve abstinence during a quit attempt. Outcome expectancies have previously been association with cessation outcomes, but prior research has not examined expectancies among treatment-seeking AA light smokers.

Seeking help for disaster services after a flood.

Objectives: This article describes how the frequency of exposure to a flood is associated with the probability of seeking help from agencies (eg, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Red Cross) that provide disaster-related services. The article also describes the population characteristics for the people who are most likely to seek help for disaster services.

Methods: Prospective cohort data from 1735 respondents of the Iowa Health Poll were used.

Understanding smoking cessation in rural communities.

Context: Rural communities are adversely impacted by increased rates of tobacco use. Rural residents may be exposed to unique communal norms and other factors that influence smoking cessation.

Purpose: This study explored facilitating factors and barriers to cessation and the role of rural health care systems in the smoking-cessation process.

Smoking cessation in homeless populations: a pilot clinical trial.

This study, which tested two motivational interviewing treatment approaches, assessed the feasibility of conducting a community-based smoking cessation intervention among homeless smokers. Participants (N = 46) were recruited from multiple facilities in the Kansas City area and were randomized to two counseling conditions in which they received five individual motivational interviewing sessions, six group meetings, and their choice of 8 weeks of 21-mg nicotine patch or 4-mg nicotine lozenge. The two counseling conditions consisted of motivational interviewing targeted either to smoking behaviors exclusively (smoking only) or to smoking and other addictions or life events that could affect ability to quit (smoking plus).

Strategies for recruiting African-American residents of public housing developments into a randomized controlled trial.

Objectives: Two community-based strategies used to implement a clinical trial within public housing developments are discussed: 1) hiring and training community outreach residents (CORE) team members to recruit and retain primarily African-American participants; and 2) conducting health fairs to recruit participants into a trial examining the effects of nicotine gum and motivational interviewing on smoking cessation rates.

Design: A cluster randomized, community-based clinical trial.

Setting: This trial was conducted in housing developments within a metropolitan area in the Midwest.

Stage of change movement across three health behaviors: the role of self-efficacy.

Purpose: In this study, we examined the influence of self-efficacy in predicting stage of change (SOC) movement, without intervention, over a 1-month period for smoking cessation, exercise adoption, and dietary fat reduction.

Design: The design of this study was longitudinal. Patients' stage of change and self-efficacy were assessed at baseline, and stage of change was reassessed at a 1-month follow-up.

Development of a culturally relevant body image instrument among urban African Americans.

Objective: To validate a culturally relevant body image instrument among urban African Americans through three distinct studies.

Research Methods And Procedures: In Study 1, 38 medical practitioners performed content validity tests on the instrument. In Study 2, three research staff rated the body image of 283 African-American public housing residents (75% women, mean age = 44 years), with the residents completing body image, BMI, and percentage body fat measures.

Gender, smoking expectancies, and readiness to quit among urban African American smokers.

The relationship between smoking expectancies and readiness to quit as well as gender differences in expectancies and readiness to quit was examined among 484 urban African American smokers. Univariate analyses revealed that higher positive expectancies were generally associated with less readiness to quit and higher negative expectancies were associated with greater readiness to quit. A multivariable model indicated that stimulation/state enhancement, taste/sensorimotor manipulation, and weight control were most strongly related to intention to quit.

Use of a brief Smoking Consequences Questionnaire for Adults (SCQ-A) in African American smokers.

Purposes of the present study were to (a) examine psychometric properties of a brief Smoking Consequences Questionnaire-Adult (SCQ-A) among an African American sample and (b) explore differences in smoking expectancies across levels of smoking-nicotine dependence. Four hundred eighty-four smokers attending an urban health clinic completed the brief SCQ-A. Maximum likelihood factor extraction with a varimax rotation specifying 9 factors replicated 9 factors of the original SCQ-A.

Applying exercise stage of change to a low-income underserved population.

Objectives: To validate the transtheoretical model for exercise behavior and the constructs of decisional balance and self-efficacy for exercise in a low-income, poorly educated primary care sample.

Methods: Patients attending public primary-care clinics from 4 separate sites in Louisiana were interviewed regarding their health behaviors.

Results: The data provide equivocal support for applying the transtheoretical model for exercise and integrating it with other models of behavior change within this population.