The Modified Reasons for Smoking Scale: factorial structure, gender effects and relationship with nicotine dependence and smoking cessation in French smokers

ABSTRACT Aims To assess the validity of the French version of the Modified Reasons for Smoking Scale (MRSS), and to identify which smoking patterns differentiate male and female smokers, which are related to tobacco dependence (as assessed by the Fagerström Test for Nicotine Dependence, FTND), to mood (Beck Depression Inventory II), to affect (Positive and Negative Affect Schedule) and which are predictors of successful quitting. Participants Three hundred and thirty smokers [(mean ± SD) aged 40 ± 9 years, 145 (44%) women, mean FTND score: 6.2 ± 2], candidates for a smoking cessation programme and smoking at least 15 cigarettes/day. Findings Factor analysis of the 21‐item scale gave the optimal fit for a seven‐factor model, which accounted for 62.3% of the total variance. The following factors were identified: ‘addictive smoking’, ‘pleasure from smoking’, ‘tension reduction/relaxation’, ‘social smoking’, ‘stimulation’, ‘habit/automatism’ and ‘handling’. The ‘addictive smoking’ score increased in a dose‐dependent manner with number of cigarettes smoked per day; the ‘habit/automatism’ score was significantly higher, with more than 20 cigarettes per day than with ≤ 20 cigarettes per day. The reasons for smoking were different for males and females: females scored higher on ‘tension reduction/relaxation’, ‘stimulation’ and ‘social smoking’. A high level of dependence (FTND ≥ 6) was associated with significantly higher scores only on ‘addictive smoking’, the association being stronger in females. Time to first cigarette after awakening was associated with higher ‘addictive smoking’ and ‘habit/automatism’ (P