Development of transtheoretical model measures for assessing decisional balance and temptation to vape

Abstract

Introduction: Vaping is common among young adults in the United States. The Transtheoretical Model (TTM) has demonstrated success in smoking cessation efforts; however, it has not been comprehensively applied to vaping cessation, and core TTM vaping measures have not been developed. Method: A cross-sectional survey including measures of stage of change (SOC), temptation to vape, and decisional balance (DCBL) was disseminated (n = 459). Items were adapted from TTM smoking scales. The sample was split for exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses (EFA/CFA). Analyses of variance assessed relationships between constructs and SOC. Results: EFA/CFA resulted in one Temptation scale (CFI = .95; α = .87) and two DCBL scales (CFI = .91; Pros α = .72; Cons α = .72). Temptation to vape and Pros of vaping decreased significantly across SOC, while Cons increased significantly. Conclusions: TTM vaping measures for two key TTM constructs were developed utilizing a college sample. Results suggest that the developed measures map well onto the TTM framework.

Keywords:

• Measure development
• transtheoretical model
• vaping

Conflict of interest disclosure

The authors have no conflicts of interest to report. The authors confirm that the research presented in this article met the ethical guidelines, including adherence to the legal requirements, of the United States, and received approval from the Institutional Review Board of the University of Rhode Island.

Data availability statement

The data underlying this article will be shared on reasonable request to the corresponding author.