Thesis ABSTRACT

A vignette study of cigarette smokers’ perceptions of physician advice
by Gemmell, Leigh A., University of Maryland Baltimore County, 2005

The purpose of this study was to examine whether 57 cigarette smokers (49.1% female, mean age = 20.4 years) who were in the early stages of change for smoking would differ in their evaluations of two written vignettes. One vignette depicted a physician giving a patient direct advice about quitting smoking, and the other vignette depicted a physician giving a patient motivational advice about their smoking. Participants rated the motivational advice vignette more favorably than the direct advice vignette on all assessed dimensions (global satisfaction, general satisfaction, physician affective style, physician technical style, and physician communication). Future research should focus on replicating these results in doctor-patient interactions in order to develop future guidelines for physicians to use when advising patients to quit smoking.