This study aimed to determine the effect of motivational interview initiatives on the smoking cessation decisions of university students. In this study, which will be conducted as a randomized, case-control study; Student introduction form, Fagerström Nicotine Addiction Test, Decision-Making Balance Scale, Self-efficacy adequacy scale, Behavior Change Stage Diagnosis Short Questionnaire, Beck Depression Scale, Smoking Desire Scale will be used, CO will be measured. Motivational interview initiative will be applied to first-year students who are enrolled in the university, who smoke and are considering quitting. The estimated duration of the study is 8-10 months. Maximum number of volunteers will be 60.

More than 7 million people in the world and more than 100,000 people in Turkey die from diseases related to tobacco use annually. Young people are one of the most important target groups of the tobacco industry. For these reasons, one of the goals in the international and national (Tobacco Control Strategy Document and Action Plan 2018-2023 for Turkey) tobacco control programs is to include protective, preventive and therapeutic studies, especially for children and youth. Currently, there are two treatment approaches recommended for smoking cessation. They are pharmacological treatment and behavioural treatment/motivation. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of the motivational interview initiative on the self-efficacy level of university students and their decision to quit smoking.

The research will be conducted in a randomized, intervention-control group experimental research design. The study will be carried out on first-year students of a university. The universe of the research; 1st-year students (N: 4543) registered in the 2020-2021 academic year. The number of students to be reached after the announcement was determined as 358 by using the 72% value, which is the result of the smoking status determination survey conducted at the same university in the 2019-2020 academic year in the previous year, using the sample calculation method with the known universe.

The study will be announced on the website of the university where the research will be conducted for first-year students who smoke and want to quit. Students who want to participate, who have not been diagnosed with depression and whose Beck depression score is mild and minimally depressed will constitute the sample group.

The sample size was calculated using power analysis. Self-efficacy and efficacy score effect size between intervention and control was calculated as 0.49 and n=23 students from each group were calculated, with a 0.05 margin of error and Power of 83.83%. As a result of the sample number calculation, 23 intervention and 23 control group students should be included. Considering that there may be losses in the later stages of the study, 40 students will be included in the study for each group. In line with the feasibility of education and training during the pandemic process, face-to-face and online interviews will be held with the hybrid interview method. Students willing to quit smoking will be divided into control and intervention groups using the simple random sampling technique according to the random numbers assignment list created in the Excel program by the biostatistics expert. In order to avoid bias, students will not be informed about which group they are in by using the single-blind study technique.

Motivational interviews and related scales will be applied to the students in the initiative group and CO measurement will be made. In cases where it is not appropriate to measure CO due to pandemic conditions, students will not be able to measure it. Such cases will be recorded in the data collection form.

After the research, motivational interviews will be made to the students in the control group who want to support their decision to quit smoking.

The researcher who will conduct the interviews has received motivational interview technique training. For the individual motivational interview to be held with the students in the intervention group, the researcher will make the first interview by determining the appropriate times with the students. Afterwards, motivational interviews will be held at the 1st, 3rd and 6th months, in which relapses and behavioural changes are evaluated (Behavioral Change Stage Diagnosis Short Questionnaire). Interviews are planned to be conducted using a hybrid method (face-to-face or online).

In the first of the individual interviews with the students; It is planned to provide information about acquaintance and research, fill in the scales in 10-15 minutes, make and evaluate CO measurements, and also conduct an average of 20-40 minutes of motivational interviews in the intervention group. In the second interview in the 1st month, it is planned to summarize the first interview, fill in the scales in 3-5 minutes, make the CO measurements in 10-15 minutes or get the measurement results and apply a motivational interview in the average of 20-40 minutes. In the third interview in the 3rd month, it is planned to summarize the second interview in 3-5 min, fill in the scales in 10-15 minutes, make CO measurements or take the measurement results made by the students in the smoking cessation polyclinics and to apply motivational interviews for an average of 20-40 minutes. In the last interview in the 6th month, it is planned to summarize the 3rd-month interview, to apply the scales to both groups for approximately 10-15 minutes, to make CO measurements or to get the measurement results.

Inclusion Criteria:

1. Students in Year 1
2. Smoker,
3. 18 years and older,
4. Those who have not received a psychiatric diagnosis made by the physician,
5. Those who want to quit smoking,
6. Volunteer students who accept the motivational interview.

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Non-smokers,
2. 18 years old and under,
3. Taking the course of the researcher teacher due to vulnerability,
4. Students who do not want to participate voluntarily will not be included.