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Hyoung Suk Lee has completed his PhD from the University of Texas at El Paso, USA, in 2012. He is an Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Washington Tacoma, USA. His current research interests include the impact of psychosocial factors (e.g., implicit attitudes, reinforcement sensitivity) on addictive behaviors such as smoking and marijuana use.
Studies have shown that implicit attitudes toward smoking are associated with smoking status and level of smoking independent of explicit attitudes. Implicit attitudes may therefore be a valuable target for understanding current smoking interventions, but research is needed on whether implicit attitudes relate to changes in smoking behavior. This study examined the relationships between changes in implicit attitudes toward smoking and quit attempts and cessation. Daily smokers (N = 210; 57% male; 66% African American) were recruited from the community for a clinical trial to encourage quit attempts. They completed measures of demographics, explicit motivation to smoke (Pros and Cons of Smoking), and the Implicit Association Test (IAT) at baseline, week 12 (mid-intervention) and week 26 (follow-up). Smoking behaviors (occurrence of at least one quit attempt and 7-day point-prevalence abstinence) were also assessed at week 12 and 26. Logistic regression analyses revealed that negative changes in implicit attitudes from baseline to week 12 and from baseline to week 26 were significantly related to quit attempts (OR = 0.71, 95% CI [0.52, 0.97], p < .05 for both) independent of explicit motivation. Negative changes in implicit attitudes from baseline to week 26 were significantly related to cessation (OR = 0.50, 95% CI [0.25, 1.00], p < .05). Results suggest that negative changes in implicit attitudes were associated with positive changes in smoking behavior independent of explicit motivation. This result indicates that smoking cessation interventions may be enhanced by incorporating strategies to change implicit attitudes, and that changes in implicit attitudes are also potentially important intervention outcomes. Biography (upto 150 words) Hyoung Suk Lee has completed his PhD from University of Texas at El Paso, USA, in 2012. He is an Associate Professor of Psychology at University of Washington Tacoma, USA. His current research interests include the impact of psychosocial factors (e.g., implicit attitudes, reinforcement sensitivity) on addictive behaviors such as smoking and marijuana use.