Examining the effectiveness of a community-based self-help program to increase women's readiness for smoking cessation

This study investigated the effectiveness of two components of a smoking ce ssation intervention: a reading manual and a series of televised programs. Female smokers in the Chicago metropolitan area with a high school educatio n or less were interviewed at 4 different times: baseline, immediate postin tervention, and 6 and 12 months. We examined the effects of several baselin e measures (race, age, number of cigarettes smoked, and stage of readiness to change) and exposure to the intervention components on subsequent stage of change. Race, baseline smoking rate, baseline stage, and exposure to bot h intervention components had direct effects on stage at immediate postinte rvention, with both intervention components increasing readiness to quit. F urthermore exposure to the manual interacted with baseline stage, such that the manual benefited women at earlier stages more than women at later stag es. Effects of both components were sustained at 6 months, and the effects of the manual were sustained at 12 months.