Assessing decisional balance for smoking cessation among Southeast Asian males in the US

This study examines the relationship of positive and negative perceptions o f smoking to self-reported readiness to quit smoking among Southeast (SE) A sian males of Cambodian, Laotian or Vietnamese descent. In order to investi gate this relationship, measures of decisional balance constructs (i.e, the pros and cons of smoking) appropriate for these ethnic groups were develop ed. Decisional balance was calculated by subtracting the cons from the pros . Following the criteria established by Prochaska and DiClemente, subjects were categorized into four levels of readiness to quit smoking (precontempl ation, contemplation, preparation/action and maintenance). The expected pat tern of relationship between decisional balance and stages of change includ ed: (1) the cons of smoking being of less importance than the pros of smoki ng for those smokers in the precontemplation stage, (2) the pros and cons i ntersecting at the contemplation stage, and (3) the cons being of greater i mportance than the pros in the later stages of change. The SE Asian men in this study did not exhibit these decisional balance patterns, although mean decisional balance scores for precontemplators and contemplators were sign ificantly more positive than mean scores for those in the preparation/actio n and maintenance stages. Decisional balance patterns differed across the t hree ethnic groups included in the sample.