Do time perspective and sensation-seeking predict quitting activity among smokers? Findings from the International Tobacco Control (ITC) Four Country Survey

Time Perspective, Dietary Behavior, and Glycemic Control in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes

BACKGROUND

Dietary behavior is a key component in the self-management of patients with Type 2 diabetes (T2DM), as it is essential for glycemic control and preventing diabetic complications. However, it is challenging for patients with diabetes to make sustainable dietary behavior changes and achieve long-term optimal glycemic control.

OBJECTIVES

Dietary behavior changes involve present efforts to achieve future benefits. The primary aim of this study was to investigate the relationships among time perspective, dietary behaviors, and health outcomes in patients with T2DM. Based on the temporal self-regulation theory and previous research, the secondary aim of the study was to explore how time perspective influences dietary behaviors.

METHODS

Following convenient sampling ( N = 329), a cross-sectional study was conducted in patients with T2DM between November 2021 and October 2022. Data were collected using self-reported questionnaires and the retrieval of clinical information from medical records. Hierarchical regression and path analysis were used to explore the relationships among study variables.

RESULTS

Our analyses showed that a future-oriented time perspective was associated with better dietary behavior but was not significantly related to hemoglobin A1c. Hierarchical regression analysis also demonstrated that having a more future-oriented time perspective was associated with healthier dietary behavior after controlling covariates. Based on the theory and path analysis, there was an indirect effect of future time perspective on dietary behavior through self-control capacity and intention.

DISCUSSION

The study reveals that a future-oriented time perspective can promote healthier dietary behavior when providing care for patients with T2DM. As a theoretical framework, the temporal self-regulation theory offers references for researchers and clinicians to take into consideration patients' time perspectives and their intentions and self-control capacity when developing interventional programs to improve dietary behaviors.

Avoiding threats, but not acquiring benefits, explains the effect of future time perspective on promoting health behavior

Promoting health behavior among the public is always a pressing issue. The present research systematically investigated the association between future time perspective and adherence to health behavior including dietary habits, physical activities, and substance use in a Chinese college student sample (N = 519). Results showed that individuals with stronger future time perspective were more likely to adhere to health behavior. Moreover, building upon the health belief model and the protection motivation theory, the present research further explored the underlying mechanisms. Results revealed that it is perceived threats of not carrying out health behavior, but not perceived benefits of carrying out health behavior, that asymmetrically explained the association between stronger future time perspective and greater adherence to health behavior. These findings contribute to both the future time perspective literature and the health behavior literature.

The Effect of Future Time Perspective on Internet Dependence Among College Students in Pandemic Time: A Moderated Mediation Analysis

Purpose

Social isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic has greatly increased the probability of Internet dependence. This study sought to examine the relation between future time perspective and college students' Internet dependence, as well as the mediating role of boredom proneness and the moderating effect of self-control in the link between boredom proneness and Internet dependence.

Materials and Methods

A questionnaire survey was carried out among college students from two universities in China. A sample of 448 participants varying from freshmen to seniors completed questionnaires on future time perspective, Internet dependence, boredom proneness and self-control.

Results

Results indicated that college students with high future time perspective were less likely to fall into Internet dependence and boredom proneness mediated this relationship. The relation between boredom proneness and Internet dependence was moderated by self-control. Boredom proneness had a greater impact on Internet dependence for students with low self-control.

Conclusion

Future time perspective could influence Internet dependence through the mediating role of boredom proneness, which is moderated by self-control. The results advanced our understanding of how future time perspective affected college students' Internet dependence, revealing that intervention strategies which could improve students' self-control would be instrumental in reducing Internet dependence.

A randomized controlled trial comparing prevention and promotion cognitive strategies in a behavioral weight-loss intervention

OBJECTIVE

Two approaches may shift attention from short-term rewards to longer-term weight-loss goals: focusing on long-term consequences of unhealthy choices (prevention) or benefits of healthy choices (promotion). This randomized controlled trial tested the impact of prevention- versus promotion-focused strategies in an internet-delivered behavioral weight-loss intervention (iBWL).

METHODS

A total of 95 participants with overweight/obesity were randomized to one of three 12-week iBWLs: (1) STANDARD (n = 31), (2) PREVENT (standard iBWL+prevention-focused training; n = 32), or (3) PROMOTE (standard iBWL+promotion-focused training; n = 32). Participants in the two enhanced arms were trained in their assigned strategy, and lessons and weekly feedback featured arm-specific content and reminders.

RESULTS

Intent-to-treat analysis revealed significant differences in weight loss and self-control use at 12 weeks (weight loss p = 0.002, self-control p = 0.0006). PREVENT was associated with 6.6% (±4.5%) weight loss and a 20.3% (±26.5%) increase in self-control, STANDARD and PROMOTE were associated with 4.4% (±4.2%) and 3.1% (±3.1%) weight losses, respectively, and neither STANDARD nor PROMOTE participants exhibited significant changes in self-control. Across arms, increased self-control was associated with greater weight loss (p = 0.0005).

CONCLUSIONS

Cognitive strategies to focus on preventing negative consequences of unhealthy choices led to greater weight loss and self-control compared with both standard iBWL and promotion-focused iBWL. Prevention strategies should be given further attention for overweight/obesity treatment.

Stable and momentary psychosocial correlates of everyday smoking: An application of Temporal Self-Regulation Theory

Smoking is one of the leading causes of non-communicable disease mortality and morbidity. Smoking behaviour is determined by both stable, person-level (e.g., motivation, nicotine dependence) and variable, situation-level factors (e.g., urges, cues). However, most theoretical approaches to understanding health behaviours so far have not integrated these two spheres of influence. Temporal Self-Regulation Theory (TST) integrates these person-level and situation-level factors, but has not yet been comprehensively applied to predicting smoking behaviour. We use Ecological Momentary Assessment to examine the utility of TST in predicting daily smoking. 46 smokers reported individual and environmental cues right after smoking and at random time points during the day. Cognitions, self-control, past behaviour, and nicotine dependence were assessed at baseline. Multi-level logistic regressions show that smoking is largely guided by momentary cues, but individual motivation can buffer their influence. This suggests that TST is a useful integrative approach to understand modifiable determinants of smoking and thus intervention targets.

The Predictive Utility of Valuing the Future for Smoking Cessation: Findings from the ITC 4 Country Surveys

Background: Delay discounting (DD) and time perspective (TP) are conceptually related constructs that are theorized as important determinants of the pursuit of future outcomes over present inclinations. This study explores their predictive relationships for smoking cessation. Methods: 5006 daily smokers at a baseline wave provided 6710 paired observations of quitting activity between two waves. Data are from the International Tobacco Control (ITC) smoking and vaping surveys with samples from the USA, Canada, England, and Australia, across three waves conducted in 2016, 2018 and 2020. Smokers were assessed for TP and DD, plus smoking-specific predictors at one wave of cessation outcomes defined as either making a quit attempt and/or success among those who tried to quit which was ascertained at the subsequent survey wave. Results: TP and DD were essentially uncorrelated. TP predicted making quit attempts, both on its own and controlling for other potential predictors but was negatively associated with quit success. By contrast, DD was not related to making quit attempts, but high DD predicted relapse. The presence of financial stress at baseline resulted in some moderation of effects. Conclusions: Understanding the mechanisms of action of TP and DD can advance our understanding of, and ability to enhance, goal-directed behavioural change. TP appears to contribute to future intention formation, but not necessarily practical thought of how to achieve goals. DD is more likely an index of capacity to effectively generate competing future possibilities in response to immediate gratification.

Longing for the Past and Longing for the Future: A Phenomenological Assessment of the Relation Between Temporal Focus and Readiness to Change Among People Living With Addiction

At present, the dominant motivational strategy to facilitate behavior change among those living with addiction is to focus one’s attention on the better possible future that may result from cutting down or cessation. However, research is now emerging that suggests nostalgic reverie (i.e., sentimental longing) for life lived before addiction can also motivate behavior change. In the current research, we explore the conditions in which longing for a better future free of addiction and longing for one’s past that was free of addition might motivate change. To this end, we assessed first-person experiential narratives of problem gamblers to better understand how they feel about their past or future without gambling, and how those feelings may relate to motivation to change. Problem gamblers were randomly assigned to either write about their lived past before gambling (n = 31) or their expected future without gambling (n = 26). Each narrative was systematically examined to identify recurrent themes and cluster these narratives according to similarly expressed themes. In the past condition, participants reported their life before gambling was either positive (Cluster P1) or difficult (Cluster P2). Gamblers with a positive past described how their life, character, close relationships, and the activities they engaged in before gambling were more meaningful. Importantly, these gamblers also reported feeling more nostalgic for life without gambling and were more ready to change their behavior than gamblers with a difficult past. In the future condition, participants were either positive (Cluster F1) or ambivalent (Cluster F2) about a future free from gambling. Gamblers who expected a positive future described how they expect their emotions, finances, and the activities they will engage in to be more positive without gambling. Compared to those ambivalent about their future, these gamblers also reported a future without addiction to be more vivid and had more desire to change their behavior, but there were no between-cluster differences in readiness to change. These findings demonstrate unique differences in how gamblers perceive their past and future without gambling, and shed a novel light on how each temporal focus might motivate behavior change among those living with addiction.

Predicting Exercise With a Personality Facet: Planfulness and Goal Achievement

Establishing reliable predictors of health behavior is a goal of health psychology. A relevant insight from personality psychology is that facets can predict specific behaviors better than broad traits do. We hypothesized that we could predict physical activity with a facet of conscientiousness related to goal pursuit-planfulness. We measured the relationship between Planfulness Scale scores and physical activity in 282 individuals over a total of 20 weeks, using a piecewise latent growth curve model. We additionally tested whether planfulness uniquely relates to activity when compared with related constructs. Finally, ratings of participants' written goals were correlated with these personality traits and physical activity. We found that planfulness was positively associated with average visits to a recreational center, that planfulness explained unique variance in activity, and that planfulness correlated with the descriptiveness of written goals. We conclude that the Planfulness Scale is a valid measurement uniquely suited to predicting goal achievement.

Connectivity between visual and auditory cortices mediates the influence of argument strength on the effectiveness of smoking-cessation videos among smokers low in sensation seeking

Purpose

Argument strength (AS) is a validated measure of persuasiveness that has been identified as one of the key variables determining the effectiveness of video ads. Smoking-cessation videos with high AS are more effective at reducing smoking behavior than videos with low AS. The neural processes that mediate the effects of AS on subsequent smoking have not been identified. In the present study, we tested whether the efficacy of high-AS smoking-cessation videos is determined by the level of integration of visual and auditory (ie, multisensory) processes. In addition, we tested differences in sensation seeking, which is repeatedly associated with smokers’ sensitivity to cessation interventions.

Patients and methods

Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we recorded the brain response of 66 smokers randomly assigned to view either 16 high-AS or 16 low-AS smoking-cessation videos. Multisensory processing was assessed by the functional connectivity between brain regions that encoded visual and auditory information in the videos. Smoking behavior was indexed by the urine level of cotinine, a nicotine metabolite, immediately before and approximately 30 days after the fMRI session.

Results

We found a significant moderated mediation effect, such that the connectivity between visual and auditory cortices mediated the effect of AS on subsequent smoking, but only for smokers lower in sensation seeking. The prediction performance of the model was confirmed by leave-one-out cross-validation.

Conclusion

Our study suggests that audiovisual integration underlies the greater efficacy of high- vs low-AS smoking-cessation videos for individuals lower in sensation seeking. High-sensation-seeking smokers may be responsive to other characteristics of smoking-cessation videos.

How Thinking about the Future Affects Our Decisions in the Present: Effects of Time Orientation and Episodic Future Thinking on Responses to Health Warning Messages

Past research has consistently shown that people have the tendency to discount future outcomes. However, most health messages emphasize the long-term consequences of behaviors. Building upon past research on temporal discounting, time orientation, and construal level, the current research examines how dispositional time orientation (present and future) predicts health behavior intentions and the impact of situationally-activated future orientation through episodic future thinking on the persuasiveness of long-term health warnings. An online experiment was conducted with 946 African American smokers randomly assigned to engage in either future thinking or present thinking prior to viewing a series of graphic cigarette warning labels. Results suggested that a stronger present time orientation predicts greater intentions to smoke, while a stronger future time orientation predicts greater intentions to quit smoking. Additionally, future (vs. present) thinking significantly increased intentions to quit smoking through enhanced perceived self-efficacy for quitting smoking. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.

The role of depression, personality, and future time perspective in internet addiction in adolescents and emerging adults

With the increase in the popularity of the Internet, more and more of its users are becoming addicted to it. Special focus in this study is placed on adolescents and emerging adults who constitute the largest number of users in Poland. The participants in the study were 718 individuals aged 12 to 30 (M = 17.57, SD = 3.63). There were two groups: 390 adolescents (aged 12-17 years, M = 14.71 years, SD = 0.99; 192 females) and 328 emerging adults (aged 18-30 years, M = 20.96 years, SD = 2.54; 197 females). The respondents completed: the Polish versions of Young's Internet Addiction Test (IAT), the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), the IPIP-BFM-20 questionnaire measuring the Big Five, and the Future Time Perspective Questionnaire. The results showed that depression had the highest predictive power for IA. Personality traits were related to Internet addiction. In both groups, conscientiousness and agreeableness had negative contribution to Internet addiction. In the group of adolescents extraversion was a positive predictor of IA, whereas in emerging adults intellect was a negative predictor of IA. FTP long and FTP goals were predictors of IA in the group of emerging adults.

Delay discounting and e-cigarette use: An investigation in current, former, and never cigarette smokers

BACKGROUND

Cigarette smokers show greater delay discounting (devaluation of delayed consequences) than non-smokers, suggesting that rapid devaluation of the future contributes to tobacco use through a mechanism in which tobacco-related health consequences are too delayed to discourage smoking. However, little work has quantified delay discounting in relation to electronic cigarette (EC) use, a tobacco product that many users believe to pose fewer negative health consequences than cigarettes.

METHODS

We assessed discounting of delayed monetary rewards in a web-based sample of 976 participants, stratified by both EC use (current and never) and cigarette use (current, former, and never).

RESULTS

Controlling for demographic variance, current EC users generally showed greater discounting than never EC users (p = .019). Current cigarette smokers also showed greater discounting than former and never smokers (p < .001). However, the between-group difference for EC use was much smaller (η_p² = .006) than for cigarette use (η_p² = .026). Moreover, differences in discounting in relation to EC use were not statistically apparent in most pairwise comparisons. Most notably, the difference between former smokers who achieved smoking cessation by transitioning to ECs (i.e., exclusive EC users) and those who have never used ECs or cigarettes was nonsignificant and small (η_p² = .010).

CONCLUSIONS

The smaller effect size for the association between delay discounting and current EC use, relative to current cigarette use, suggests that public perception of ECs as a safer alternative to cigarettes attenuates the role of delay discounting in decisions to use ECs.

Construct and Predictive Validity of Three Measures of Intention to Quit Smoking: Findings From the International Tobacco Control (ITC) Netherlands Survey

Introduction

The aim of the study was to compare the construct validity and the predictive validity of three instruments to measure intention to quit smoking: a Stages of Change measure, the Motivation To Stop Scale (MTSS), and a Likert scale. We used the Theory of Planned Behavior as theoretical framework.

Methods

We used data from the International Tobacco Control Netherlands Survey. We included smokers who participated in three consecutive survey waves (n = 980). We measured attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control in 2012, intention to quit with three instruments in 2013, and having made a quit attempt in the last year in 2014. We conducted Structural Equation Modeling with three models for the instruments of intention separately and with one model that included the three instruments simultaneously.

Results

All three instruments of intention were significantly and positively related to attitude and perceived behavioral control but none was related to subjective norm. All three instruments were significantly and positively related to making a quit attempt. The relation of the Likert scale with making a quit attempt (β = 0.38) was somewhat stronger than that of the Stages of Change measure (β = 0.35) and the MTSS (β = 0.22). When entering the three instruments together into one model, only the Likert scale was significantly related to making a quit attempt.

Conclusions

All three instruments showed reasonable construct validity and comparable predictive validity. Under the studied conditions, the Likert scale performed slightly better than the Stages of Change measure and the MTSS.

Implications

An assessment of the Stages of Change, the Motivation To Stop Scale, and a Likert scale showed comparable predictive and construct validity as measures for intention to quit smoking. All three instruments can be used in future research; however, under the studied theoretical framework, that is, the Theory of Planned Behavior, the Likert scale performed slightly better than the other two instruments.

The immediate and long-term effects of time perspective on Internet gaming disorder

Backgrounds and aims This study focuses on the role of time perspective (TP) in Internet gaming disorder (IGD). An inventory-based study on 377 massive multiplayer online role playing game players was conducted, followed by a 3-year-follow-up in which 48 active players from the original sample participated. We proposed that TP factors (negative TP and future positive TP) will influence either the current presence of IGD symptoms or the further development of IGD over time. In other words, the effect of TP is stable. Finally, game usage patterns were analyzed in the sense of changes in playing time and IGD symptoms in gamers after 3 years. Methods To access the variables, two scales were administered through online inventory, the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory-short, and Charlton and Danforths' Core Addiction Scale, both in 2012 (N = 377) and 2015 (N = 48). The amount of time that gamers usually spent playing were obtained through self-reports. Results The study's primary presumptions were confirmed. Both negative TP and future positive TP were confirmed as significant predictors of the presence of IGD symptoms, either immediately or in the following 3 years. Data on game usage showed a significant decrease in playing time and IGD symptoms between year 0 and year 3 of the study.

Initial examination of priming tasks to decrease delay discounting

Steep discounting of delayed rewards is linked with a variety of unhealthy behaviors that contribute to the major causes of preventable death and disease. Growing evidence suggests that decreases in delay discounting contribute to healthier preferences. This study sought to provide preliminary evidence for the viability of developing a brief priming task to reduce delay discounting in a large, diverse group of individuals. Participants (n=1,122) were randomized to one of three conditions: Future Focus (FF), Present Focus (PF), and Non-Temporal Focus (NTF) intended respectively to decrease, increase, or have no effect on delay discounting. Participants then completed the Monetary Choice Questionnaire, a brief assessment of delay discounting rate. Participants randomized to FF exhibited significantly lower discounting rates than those randomized to PF or NTF conditions. Race, Hispanic background, social self-monitoring, education, and cigarette smoking also accounted for a significant amount of variance in the discounting model. These findings provide support for the development of a brief priming intervention that might be examined in clinical or public health contexts to decrease discounting and support healthy choices.

Individual differences in the behavioral effects of nicotine: A review of the preclinical animal literature

Not everyone who tries tobacco or other nicotine-containing products becomes a long-term user. Certain traits or factors that are differentially present in these individuals must be able to help health care providers and researchers determine who is more likely to become chronic users of nicotine-containing products. Some of these factors, particularly sensation-seeking/novelty, impulsivity, and anxiety, lend themselves to the creation of animal models of reactivity to nicotine. These models of reactivity to nicotine can improve the translational aspects of preclinical animal research on nicotine-induced behaviors and treatments in order to help reduce negative outcomes in human populations. The goal of this review is to evaluate the current status of animal models of individual differences that serve to predict the later behavioral effects of nicotine. The limited utility and inconsistency of existing novelty models is considered, as well as the promise of impulsivity and anxiety models in preclinical animal populations. Finally, other models that could be employed to extend the benefit of the current research are examined.

How do prompts for attempts to quit smoking relate to method of quitting and quit success?

BACKGROUND

Understanding how prompts for quit attempts relate to quitting methods and success may improve smoking cessation interventions.

PURPOSE

This study aims to establish whether prompts for quitting are associated with quitting method and success.

METHODS

Using a cross-sectional design, 6,126 past-year smokers who had tried to quit in the last 12 months, were asked to identify prompts contributing to their most recent attempt.

RESULTS

Attempts prompted by health professional advice were significantly more likely to involve use of treatments and gradual rather than abrupt cessation (odds ratios (ORs; 95 % confidence interval (CIs)) = 3.64 (3.14-4.22), 0.68 (0.59-0.78); respectively) but were not more likely to succeed. Attempts prompted by concern about current or future health, or cost, were more likely to succeed (OR (95 % CIs) = 1.79 (1.38-2.32), 1.25 (1.01-1.54), and 1.41 (1.13-1.76)).

CONCLUSIONS

Quit attempts prompted by health professional advice appear to be more likely to involve gradual reduction and use of treatments. Those prompted by health concerns and cost appear more likely to succeed.

Time perspective as a determinant of smoking cessation in four countries: Direct and mediated effects from the International Tobacco Control (ITC) 4-Country Surveys

BACKGROUND

Future oriented time perspective predicts a number of important health behaviors and outcomes, including smoking cessation. However, it is not known how future orientation exerts its effects on such outcomes, and no large scale cross-national studies have examined the question prospectively. The aim of the current investigation was to examine the relationship between time perspective and success in smoking cessation, and social cognitive mediators of the association.

METHODS

The ITC-4 is a multi-wave, four country survey (Australia, Canada, United States, United Kingdom) of current smokers (N=9772); the survey includes baseline measurements of time perspective, intentions, quit attempts, and self-reported quit status at follow-up over 8 years. We examined the predictive power of time perspective for smoking cessation, as mediated through strength of quit intentions and prior history of quit attempts.

RESULTS

Findings indicated that those smokers with a stronger future orientation at baseline were more likely to have successfully quit at follow-up. This effect was partially explained by intention-mediated effects of future orientation on quit attempts.

CONCLUSIONS

Future orientation predicts smoking cessation across four English-speaking countries; the cessation-facilitating effects of future orientation may be primarily due to future oriented individuals' motivated and sustained involvement in the quit cycle over time.

Impulsivity as a predictor of treatment outcome in substance use disorders: review and synthesis

ISSUES

Impulsivity is a widely studied personality trait and research construct that has been implicated as a risk factor for substance use, including initiating and continuing use. However, relatively few studies have examined impulsivity as a predictor of treatment outcome. Because impulsivity has been operationalised in many different ways, cross-comparisons of empirical studies have been difficult.

APPROACH

The PubMed database was searched in September 2013. Reference lists of papers retrieved from this search were also manually scanned for additional resources. Studies were included if they presented data that assessed impulsivity as a predictor of treatment outcomes.

KEY FINDINGS

The body of literature reviewed in this paper suggests that higher pretreatment impulsivity, regardless of how it is measured, usually is associated with poorer treatment outcomes. Recent data indicate that some psychosocial and pharmacological treatments may directly impact impulsivity and thus represent an interesting avenue for further research.

CONCLUSIONS

Impulsivity appears to be a key predictor of substance use treatment outcomes and warrants more attention in the improvement of treatment outcomes. Suggestions for future research on the role of impulsivity in substance use treatment are provided.

The role of time and risk preferences in smoking inequalities: a population-based study

Heterogeneity in time and risk preferences has been proposed as one of the mechanisms involved in the educational gradient in smoking, but this mechanism has scarcely been explored empirically. Subjective scales were introduced in the 2008 French National Health, Health Care and Insurance Survey in order to elicit measures of time and risk preferences for a representative sample of 5188 men and 5684 women. Men and women were treated separately. First, logistic regressions were used to test the associations between preferences and education and between preferences and smoking. Second, nested logistic models were built to investigate the mediating role of preferences in the educational gradient in smoking, with an econometric treatment of the rescaling problem. Preference for the present and risk loving were found to be: inversely related to educational level; strongly related to each other, and; strongly associated to current smoking, even after adjustment for educational level. There was a weakening of the educational gradient after the control for preferences, which supports the role of these two preferences as partial mediators in the educational gradient in smoking. Among men, time preference was more strongly associated with smoking than risk aversion, while the reverse was found for women. We provide convincing evidence in favour of the mediating role of time preference and risk aversion in educational inequalities in smoking and highlight the connection between those two dimensions. Gender patterns are discussed and potential implications in terms of designing targeted anti-tobacco programmes are delineated.

Time perspective as a predictor of smoking status: findings from the International Tobacco Control (ITC) Surveys in Scotland, France, Germany, China, and Malaysia

BACKGROUND

Prior studies have demonstrated that time perspective-the propensity to consider short-versus long-term consequences of one's actions-is a potentially important predictor of health-related behaviors, including smoking. However, most prior studies have been conducted within single high-income countries. The aim of this study was to examine whether time perspective was associated with the likelihood of being a smoker or non-smoker across five countries that vary in smoking behavior and strength of tobacco control policies.

METHODS

The data were from the International Tobacco Control (ITC) Surveys in five countries with large probability samples of both smokers (N=10,341) and non-smokers (N=4,955): Scotland, France, Germany, China, and Malaysia. The surveys were conducted between 2005-2008. Survey respondents indicated their smoking status (smoker vs. non-smoker) and time perspective (future oriented vs. not future-oriented) and provided demographic information.

RESULTS

Across all five countries, non-smokers were significantly more likely to be future-oriented (66%) than were smokers (57%), χ(2)(1, N = 15,244) = 120.64, p < .001. This bivariate relationship between time perspective and smoking status held in a multivariate analysis. After controlling for country, age, sex, income, education, and ethnicity (language in France), those who were future-oriented had 36% greater odds of being a non-smoker than a smoker (95% CI: 1.22 to 1.51, p<.001).

CONCLUSION

These findings establish time perspective as an important predictor of smoking status across multiple countries and suggest the potential value of incorporating material to enhance future orientation in smoking cessation interventions.