Is there an upward spiral between mastery experiences and self-efficacy during smoking quit attempts?

Abstract

Background: If mastery experiences are attributed internally they should increase self-efficacy. Self-efficacy in turn increases the opportunity for mastery – creating an upward spiral. To investigate these fine-grained temporal dynamics between daily mastery experiences, attributions and self-efficacy in the process of quitting smoking, two intensive longitudinal data studies were analysed. Methods: In two intensive longitudinal mobile phone studies N=100 (Study 1) and n=85 female and n=85 male smokers (Study 2) reported whether they had experienced mastery (smoked or not) and their smoking-specific self-efficacy for 21 days after a self-set quit date. Study 2 additionally assessed internal and external attributions for mastery experiences. Time-lagged multilevel analyses were conducted using change-predicting-change models. Expected results: In Study 1 prior and concurrent increases in mastery experiences relate to increases in self-efficacy; with concurrent mastery changes having a stronger effect. Prior and concurrent changes in self-efficacy were associated with increases in mastery as well, with prior changes in self-efficacy having equally strong effects on mastery than concurrent self-efficacy changes. Models controlled for prior changes in the respective outcomes. Current stage of work: Data analyses are terminated for Study 1 and started for Study 2. Discussion: Findings from Study 1 emphasize an upward spiral between mastery experiences and self-efficacy on a day-to-day basis in smokers, who try to quit. A replication of this finding is planned for Study 2, which will also allow looking into the role of internal and external attributions for mastery experiences.