Table 4.

Indices and scales for smoking behaviour and related beliefs of "lights" and regular cigarette smokers

Variable*	"Lights" smokers (mean score, 95% CI) (n = 247)	Regular smokers (mean score, 95% CI) (n = 910)	Differences in mean scores (Test of significance)
Heaviness of smoking index (alternate version)	0.42 (0.06 – 0.79)	1.17 (0.98 – 1.37)	0.75, p < 0.001
Awareness of smoking harm (7-item scale) (α = 0.69)	0.53 (0.46 – 0.60)	0.47 (0.43 – 0.51)	0.06, p = 0.138
Smoking has affected health and quality of life (2-item scale) (α = 0.68)	1.99 (1.84 – 2.14)	2.04 (1.98 – 2.11)	-0.05, p = 0.521
Concern that smoking will lower health and quality of life in the future (2-item scale) (α = 0.78)	2.44 (2.28 – 2.61)	2.43 (2.35 – 2.51)	0.01, p = 0.889
Self-exempting beliefs (3-item scale, high score means stronger such beliefs) (α = 0.60)	2.88 (2.76 – 3.00)	3.02 (2.95 – 3.09)	-0.14, p = 0.043
Intention of quitting (4-point scale, based on questions in Table 3)	1.21 (1.07 – 1.35)	1.11 (1.02 – 1.19)	0.09, p = 0.225
Self-efficacy for quitting (4-point scale)	2.82 (2.57 – 3.06)	2.50 (2.39 – 2.61)	0.32, p = 0.022
Overall attitude to smoking (5-point scale, high score is more positive)	2.40 (2.27 – 2.54)	2.46 (2.39 – 2.53)	-0.06, p = 0.433
Attitude to regulation index (2-item index, high score is favourable toward regulation) (α = 0.51)	3.26 (3.13 – 3.40)	3.58 (3.29 – 3.43)	-0.32, p = 0.221

* For more details of index composition and development, see an online Methods Report [30]. Alpha (α) scores are for Cronbach's alpha (see Methods).