Purpose: In this study, the effectiveness of a motivational interviewing smoking cessation YOU-TURN program for adolescents wasexamined. The program was based on the self-determination theory. Methods: The study was carried out with a nonequivalent controlgroup pretest-posttest design. Participants in the present study were 136 high school students living in D city. The students wereassigned to the experimental group (n=52) who participated in the motivational interviewing smoking cessation YOU-TURN programbased on self-determination theory, or to the control group (n=84) who participated in a general smoking cessation program. Datawere collected from September 1, 2013 through April 30, 2014. Collected data were analyzed using SPSS PC+ 21.0 with Chi-squaretest, Fisher's exact test, t-test, Mann-Whitney U test, Repeated Measures ANOVA, and MANOVA-Wilk’s Lambda. Results: The experimentalgroup had a significant increase in basic psychological needs, and duration of quitting-smoking in comparison with the controlgroup. The experimental group had a significant decrease in cigarettes smoked per day and cotinine in urine in comparison withthe control group. Conclusion: The motivational interviewing YOU-TURN program, when delivered to adolescents who smoked, waseffective in discouraging smoking, and can be utilized as an effective nursing intervention for adolescents who smoke.