A Preliminary Evaluation of Adjuncts to Motivational Interviewing for Psychiatrically Complex Smokers

ABSTRACT

Two hundred eight psychiatrically complex military veterans (97% male; n = 201) were recruited as part of a study investigating the differential efficacy of three brief (one-session) motivational interviewing (MI) interventions to yield changes in smoking behavior. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three MI interventions: MI alone, MI plus breathing instruction, or MI plus incentive spirometry (a tool for feedback about lung function and an inexpensive form of biofeedback. Results suggested that smoking behavior, measured by self-reported number of cigarettes per day and confirmed by expired carbon monoxide levels, decreased across groups over time. However, there were no differences among treatment conditions on cigarettes per day or measures of tobacco dependence. Implications for harm reduction in this challenging population are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Motivational interviewing
• smoking
• tobacco
• spirometry

This work was supported by a VA Research Enhancement Award Program (REAP) grant (Ronald Goldstein, MD, Principal Investigator), NIDA grant #DA11088 awarded to the first author, NIDA grant #DA016138 awarded to the second author, NIDA grant # K23DA016376 awarded to the fourth author, and grant funding awarded to the second author by the Department of Veterans Affairs (CSP #725).

Notes

1. A copy of the manual may be obtained from the first author.