A behavioural smoking treatment based on perceived risks of quitting: A preliminary feasibility and acceptability study with female smokers

Abstract

Introduction: Even treatments showing proven efficacy leave the majority of female smokers unable to quit. In response, there has been a special call for novel behavioural treatments, particularly those which target barriers to quitting faced by women. Significant barriers for women who smoke include perceived “risks” associated with cessation (e.g. managing stress and cravings). The purpose of this treatment development study is to test a novel, individualised smoking intervention for female smokers targeting risk perceptions. Methods: Twenty treatment-seeking female daily cigarette smokers were randomly assigned to receive either standard counseling based on the Mayo Clinic’s “Smoke Free and Living It” manual or a new manualised treatment based on individual perceived risks of quitting. Primary outcomes were point prevalence smoking abstinence at the end of treatment and at a 1 month follow-up, and changes in smoking from baseline to 1 month follow-up. Results: The manualised perceived risk treatment demonstrated good acceptability and more participants receiving this treatment were abstinent at the end of the trial than participants in the standard counseling condition. Among participants who did not quit smoking, those receiving the perceived risk counseling reported a greater reduction in smoking at the 1 month follow-up (Cohen’s d = 0.67). Conclusions: This initial study demonstrated that an intervention targeting perceived risks of quitting was feasible to administer, acceptable to female smokers, and showed promise with regard to smoking outcomes, thus warranting further testing through Stage II clinical trials. Reducing perceived risks of quitting may represent a critical target for smoking treatment development.

• Cessation
• perceived risks
• smoking
• women

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Lindsay Oberleitner, Ph.D. and Kelly DeMartini, Ph.D. for their clinical work on this study, Amy Copeland, Ph.D. for her feedback on the treatment manual, and the late Bruce Rounsaville, M.D. for his feedback on the initial design of the study.

Declaration of interest

This work was supported by a pilot study grant from Women s Health Research at Yale and the Yale Cancer Center; the National Institute of Drug Abuse at the National Institutes of Health grants P50-DA033945 [ORWH, NIDA, & FDA] (to SAM), RL1-DA024857 (to SAM), and RL5-DA024858 (an Interdisciplinary Research Education Grant to CMM); and the State of Connecticut, Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services.

The authors declare no conflicts of interests. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of this article.