Replication of subtypes for smoking cessation within the precontemplation stage of change

The Transtheoretical Model constructs have been used in the development of effective tailored interventions for smoking cessation. Recent studies have suggested the existence of clusters within each stage of change, based on measures of the Pros, Cons and the Situational Temptations. The goal of this study is to replicate cluster subtypes within the Precontemplation stage of change in a secondary analysis of data from a sample of current smokers (N = 3967). Four random samples ranging from 312 to 400 participants were selected from the Precontemplators subgroup. The cluster analyses were performed using Ward's Method on the standard scores from the three scales. Interpretability of the pattern, pseudo F test, and dendograms were used to determine the number of clusters. Four cluster subtypes were found and replicated across samples. The ten processes of change and two smoking behavior variables were used in the external validation of clusters. Statistically significant multivariate effects were found for the processes of change (p < .05) and the smoking behavior variables (p < .001) in all samples. The cluster patterns closely replicate earlier findings and provide evidence for the existence of clusters subtypes within the Precontemplation stage of change.