Developmental concepts of nicotine addiction.

Piagetian interviewing techniques were used to explore concepts of nicotine addiction among 96 children and adolescents aged between 5 and 17 years. Verbal probes elicited each subject's most sophisticated level of reasoning about smoking and addiction. Responses were scored using the six developmentally ordered categories of the Developmental Conceptions of Addiction scoring system. Data indicate progression in conceptual reasoning about addiction consistent with Piagetian stages of cognitive development and physical causality. Age was associated with but not predictive of Developmental Conceptions of Addiction scores. Findings provide information that may be useful in designing more effective smoking prevention and cessation interventions.