WISDM primary and secondary dependence motives: Associations with self-monitored motives for smoking in two college samples

Abstract

The Wisconsin Inventory of Smoking Dependence Motives (WISDM) assesses 13 domains of smoking motivation emphasized by diverse theoretical perspectives. Emerging findings support a distinction between four primary dependence motives (PDM) indexing core features of tobacco dependence and nine secondary dependence motives (SDM) indexing accessory features. The current study explored the validity of this distinction using data from two samples (Ns = 50 and 88) of college smokers who self-monitored their reasons for smoking with electronic diaries. PDM scores were associated with diary endorsement of habitual or automatic motives for smoking individual cigarettes, which are conceptually consistent with the content of the PDM subscales. SDM did not clearly predict conceptually related self-monitored motives when tested alone. However, when these two correlated scale composites were co-entered, PDM predicted being a daily vs. nondaily smoker, being higher in nicotine dependence, and smoking individual cigarettes because of habit or automaticity. Conversely, after PDM-SDM co-entry, the unique variance in the SDM composite predicted the tendency to report smoking individual cigarettes for situational or instrumental motives (e.g., to control negative affect). The results suggest that the PDM composite may reflect core motivational features of nicotine dependence in these young smokers. The relative prominence of primary motives in advanced or dependent use may be even clearer when motives for smoking are assessed in real time rather than reported via questionnaire.

Reasons for Smoking Among Tri-Ethnic Daily and Nondaily Smokers

“…Native nondaily smokers reasons were more similar to converted nondaily smokers, although the order of their top two was switched, with pleasure first and tension reduction second. Our finding that nondaily smokers, and particularly native nondaily smokers, display stronger RS stemming from secondary reinforcement (such as pleasure and handling) relative to other more primary reasons (such as addictive smoking) is consistent with previous research (Klitzke, Irwin, Lombardo, & Christoff, 1990;Piasecki et al, 2011;. In addition to considering the top three RS for any subgroup, smoking cessation counseling should address all salient RS with individual smokers given small effect sizes in between group differences.…”

“…This is a brief measure which can provide insight into factors associated with smoking behaviors (Chang, 2009;Harakeh & Vollebergh, 2012;Novak et al, 2003;Piasecki et al, 2011). The inclusion of a tri-ethnic sample in this study is an important addition to the literature; however, future studies should examine RS with other ethnic groups who possess disproportionate rates of nondaily smoking such as Asian Americans (Tong, Nguyen, Vittinghoff, & Pérez-Stable, 2009;Trinidad et al, 2009).…”

“…Reasons for smoking (RS) are established determinants of smoking behavior (Chang, 2009;Harakeh & Vollebergh, 2012;Novak, Burgess, Clark, Zvolensky, & Brown, 2003;Piasecki, Piper, Baker, & Hunt-Carter, 2011). Affect-driven reasons were prominent in formative theories for explaining smoking behavior (Ikard, Green, & Horn, 1969;Tompkins, 1966) and have been empirically supported (Chang, 2009;Costa & McCrae, 1981).…”

“…Affect-driven reasons were prominent in formative theories for explaining smoking behavior (Ikard, Green, & Horn, 1969;Tompkins, 1966) and have been empirically supported (Chang, 2009;Costa & McCrae, 1981). Recent models have been refined to differentiate between primary (i.e., clinical characteristics such as cravings which compel smoking) and secondary dependence motives (i.e., instrumental or situational characteristics influencing the choice to smoke) for smoking, which are also linked to smoking behavior (Piasecki et al, 2011). However, few studies have examined RS with a range of smoking levels or explored differences by demographic characteristics.…”

Psychometric Characteristics of the Brief Wisconsin Inventory of Smoking Dependence Motives Among a Nonclinical Sample of Smokers

“…This measure, which identifies 13 theoretically driven subscales encompassing the physiological, psychological, and social dimensions that drive nicotine dependence, also has good psychometric properties including concurrent, discriminant, and predictive validity. [12][13][14] Further research has parsed the subscales into two broader categories-primary dependence motives (PDMs) and secondary dependence motives (SDMs)-that underscore the core and ancillary features of tobacco and nicotine dependence, respectively. 13 Given the length and assessment burden associated with administering the full 68-item measure, Smith and colleagues 15 refined the measure to a 37-item Brief WISDM.…”