Incorporating the COM-B model for behavior change into an agent-based model of smoking behaviors: an object-oriented design

Modeling trajectories in cigarette smoking prevalence, initiation and quitting for populations and subgroups of populations is important for policy planning and evaluation. This paper proposes an agent-based model (ABM) design for simulating the smoking behaviors of a population using the Capability, Opportunity, Motivation - Behavior (COM-B) model. Capability, Opportunity and Motivation are modeled as latent composite attributes which are composed of observable factors associated with smoking behaviors. Three forms of the COM-B model are proposed to explain the transitions between smoking behaviors: initiating regular smoking uptake, making a quit attempt and quitting successfully. The ABM design follows object-oriented principles and extends an existing generic software architecture for mechanism-based modeling. The potential of the model to assess the impact of smoking policies is illustrated and discussed.