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Motivational interviewing (MI) is widely used for adolescent smoking cessation but empirical support for this approach is mixed.

Adolescent cigarette smokers 14–18years old (N=162) were recruited from medical, school, and community settings and randomly assigned to enhanced MI or brief advice (BA) for smoking cessation. MI comprised an in-person individual session, a telephone booster session one week later, and a brief telephone-based parent intervention. BA consisted of standardized brief advice to quit smoking. Assessments occurred at baseline, post-treatment and at 1-, 3-, and 6-month follow ups.

Biochemically-confirmed 7-day point prevalence abstinence rates were low (e.g., 4.5% for MI; 1.4% for BA at 1month) and did not differ significantly by group at any follow up. Only those in MI reported significant decreases in cigarettes smoked per day (CPD) from …