Abstract

This study was designed to explore the change of anger level and the amount of cigarette smoking among adolescents (202 boys and girls) who were participating in a smoking cessation program. In addition, an attempt was made to investigate whether there were any differences between an education-centered smoking cessation program focusing on knowledge, attitude, and belief as opposed to a counseling-centered smoking cessation program centering around a psychosocial aspect; including the cognitive-behavioral model, social influence model, and life skills model. The major findings of the present study included: (1) There was a significant difference before and after the smoking cessation program in terms of the amount of cigarette smoking; (2) Significant differences were also found for state anger and anger-out before and after the smoking cessation program. More specifically, anger-out was reduced for girls who participated in the education-centered smoking cessation program, while state anger, trait anger, and anger-out for boys and state anger and anger-out for girls were significantly reduced at counseling-centered smoking cessation program; (3) State anger for boys was significantly different between the education-centered smoking cessation program and the counseling-centered smoking cessation program; (4) Within the education-centered smoking cessation program, state anger and anger-out were more significantly reduced in over 17 years olds than those who were 16 years or younger. The present findings were discussed in light of contributing to develop smoking cessation programs and/or smoking prevention programs for adolescents.