“I did it my way”—An explorative study of the smoking cessation process among Danish youth

Abstract

To explore the smoking cessation process of adolescents and their attitudes and beliefs towards smoking cessation and cessation interventions. Focus group discussions and individual interviews during April-May 2004 with 26 persons aged 15-21 years who all initiated a quit attempt on 1 January 2004. The approach towards all stages of the youth smoking cessation process varied greatly among both successful and unsuccessful quitters. Apart from 'commitment' or the amount of energy put into a cessation attempt, there were no differences in the way successful and unsuccessful quitters approached the quit attempt. 'Smoking friends' and 'social support' were important for maintaining cessation. Further, participants had negative attitudes towards formalized smoking cessation interventions. There are many approaches to the smoking cessation process. Whether an attempt is successful depends more on individual conditions and the amount of commitment invested in the attempt than on the specific cessation strategy used. Future adolescent smoking cessation interventions should be flexible regarding both structure and content and should focus on the individual learning process, rather than adhering to rigid cessation strategies.