18433 . .JConsultClinPsychol,58(3) :317-322Jun1990 AFine-GrainedAnalysisoftheRoleofSelf-Efficacy inSelf-InitiatedAttemptsToQuitSmoking ManuelE .GarciaandJoyM .Schmitz AuburnUniversity LeonardA .Doerfler AssumptionCollegeand DepartmentofPsychiatry, UniversityofMassachusettsMedicalCenter Therelationbetweenself-efficacyratingsandsmokingbehaviorwasexploredamong36peoplewho weretryingtoquitsmokingontheirown .Ssself-monitoredhigh-risksituations,copingeffortsto withstandthetemptationtosmoke,andself-efficacyincopingwithsimilartemptationsfor4weeks afterquitting .Self-efficacyratingsweresignificantlyrelatedtotheoutcomeofthesesituations,with Ssreportinghigherefficacyratingsaftersituationsinwhichtheydidnotsmokeasopposedtothose inwhichtheydidsmoke .Self-efficacywaspredictiveofsmokingoutcome,buttherewasconsiderable intersubjectvariabilityinthestrengthoftherelationbetweenefficacyandsmokingbehavior .Both efficacyandprevioussmokingbehaviorpredictedsmokingoutcomeequallywell,however . Cognitive-behavioraltheoriesplayanimportantroleinthe studyofsmokingcessationandrelapse(Marlatt& .Gordon, 1980,1985 ;Pechacek&Danaher,1979 ;Shiffman&Wills, 1985).Inoneofthemostinfluentialanalysesoftherelapsepro- cess,MarlattandGordon(1985)proposedthatrelapseisdeter- minedbyacombinationoffactorsthatincludehigh-risksitua- tions,copingresponses,andself-efficacyappraisals .According tothismodel,ahigh-risksituationsetsthestageforrelapse, andaneffectivecopingresponseisnecessarytowithstandthe temptationtosmoke .Self-efficacyappraisalsinvolveexpecta- tionsaboutone'scapacitytocopewiththesehigh-risksitua- tions. Akeyconstructinthismodelisself-efficacy,whichhasbeen definedbyBandura(1977)as"theconvictionthatonecansuc- cessfullyexecutethebehaviorrequiredtoproducethe[desired] outcomes"(p .193).Efficacyjudgmentsdifferfromglobaleval- uationsofcompetency(e.g.,self-esteem)inthattheyarehy- pothesizedtoreflectperceivedcompetencyinspecificsitua- tions .Moreover,Bandura(1977,1986)hasproposedthatthese efficacyexpectationsmediatebehaviorchangeandoftenpredict behaviorbetterthandoespreviousorconcurrentbehavior . Consistentwiththisformulation,MarlattandGordon(1985) proposedthatforaddictivebehaviors,theprobabilityofrelapse Thisarticleisbasedonamaster'sthesisbyManuelE .Garcia,con- ductedunderthesupervisionofLeonardA .Doerfler. WewouldliketothankWilliamChaplin,ThomasPayne,C.Steven Richards,andAnnetteStantonfortheirvaluablecommentsandsugges- tions . ManuelE .GarciaisnowattheDallas(Texas)VeteransAdministra- tionHospital,andJoySchmitzisattheUniversityofTexasMentalSci- encesInstitute . CorrespondenceconcerningthisarticleshouldbeaddressedtoLeon- ardA .DoerFler,DepartmentofPsychology,AssumptionCollege,500 SalisburyStreet,Worcester,Massachusetts01615-0005 . I9 inagivensituationdecreaseswhenanindividualhasastrong expectationthatheorshecancopeeffectively .Inturn,asuccess- fulcopingresponsestrengthensjudgmentsthatonecancope effectivelywithsimilarsituationsinthefuture . ConsistentwithBandura's(1977,1986)theory,somere- searchhasdemonstratedarelationbetweenstrengthofself- efficacyandthetendencytoresumecigarettesmokingafter quitting.Efficacyratingsobtainedattheendoftreatmenthave consistentlypredictedsmokingstatusasmuchas6months posttreatment(Baer,Holt,&Lichtenstein,1986 ;Colletti,Sup- nick,&Payne,1985 ;Condiotte&Lichtenstein,1981 ;DiCle- mente,1981 ;McIntyre,Lichtenstein,&Mermelstein,1983) . Moreimportant,analysesbyCondiotteandLichtenstein (1981)andMcIntyreetal .(1983)revealedthatself-efficacyrat- ingsnotonlypredictedwhichsmokerswerelikelytorelapsebut alsohowsoonandinwhichsituationtheywouldstartsmoking again .Moreover,self-efficacyratingspredictedwhetheralapse orslipwouldleadtoacompleterelapse ;individualswithhigh self-efficacylevelsweregenerallyabletoreinstatecontroland avoidfull-blownrelapse . AnimportantissueforBandura's(1977)theoryiswhether self-efficacypredictsfuturebehaviorbetterthandoespastbe- havior.Althoughresearchonthisissueisstillpreliminary,there issomesupportforthisproposal(Bandura,1986) .Forcigarette smoking,Baeretal .(1986)reportedthatself-efficacyratings predictedsmokingstatus6monthsposttreatment,evenwhen end-of-treatmentsmokingwaspartialedout .However,Baeret al .(1986)reportedthateventhoughefficacyratingsretained someuniquepredictivepower,therelationbetweenefficacyand futurebehaviorwassignificantlyattenuatedwhenend-of-treat- mentsmokingwasconsidered .Onthebasisofthesefindings, Baeretal .concludedthatcurrentsmokingbehaviormaybeas goodapredictoroffuturesmokingasisself-efficacy . Afactorthatcanaffectthepredictivepowerofself-eflicacy judgmentsisthetimeelapsingbetweenassessmentsofefficacy 317 http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/zsj04d00/pdf