Momentary precipitants connecting stress and smoking lapse during a quit attempt.

OBJECTIVE: Most attempts at smoking cessation are unsuccessful, and stress is frequently characterized both as a momentary precipitant of smoking lapse and a predictor of subsequent changes in other key precipitants of lapse. The current study examined longitudinal associations among stress, multiple precipitants of lapse, and lapse among smokers attempting to quit. METHOD: Ecological momentary assessments (EMAs) were gathered from a multiethnic, gender-balanced sample of 370 adults enrolled in a smoking cessation program. EMAs (N = 32,563) assessed smoking lapse and precipitants of lapse, including stress, negative affect, smoking urge, abstinence self-efficacy, motivation to quit, difficulty concentrating, coping outcome expectancies, and smoking outcome expectancies. A multilevel structural equation model simultaneously estimated within-subject paths from stress to multiple precipitants and subsequent smoking lapse. Indirect effects of stress to smoking lapse through precipitants were computed. RESULTS: Results indicated that increased stress was significantly associated with all precipitants of lapse, consistent with a greater risk for lapse (i.e., increased negative affect, smoking urge, difficulty concentrating, and smoking outcome expectancies and reduced abstinence self-efficacy, motivation to quit, and coping outcome expectancies). All precipitants were significantly associated with subsequent lapse. Indirect effects indicated that stress was uniquely connected to lapse through negative affect, smoking urge, abstinence self-efficacy, coping outcome expectancies, and smoking outcome expectancies. CONCLUSIONS: Results of this study highlight the broad importance of stress for smoking lapse during a quit attempt. Smoking cessation programs should pay close attention to the role of stress in exacerbating key precipitants of lapse to improve cessation success rates. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Brief Cognitive Behavioral Therapy For Chronic Pain: Results From a Clinical Demonstration Project in Primary Care Behavioral Health.

OBJECTIVES: Although cognitive behavioral therapy is an effective intervention for chronic pain, it is a lengthy treatment typically applied only in specialty care settings. The aim of this project was to collect preliminary effectiveness data for Brief Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Chronic Pain (Brief CBT-CP), an abbreviated, modular form of treatment designed for use in primary care. METHODS: A clinical demonstration project was conducted in which Brief CBT-CP was delivered to primary care patients by 22 integrated care providers practicing in the Primary Care Behavioral Health model of Veterans Health Administration primary care clinics. Brief measures were used at each appointment to collect patient-reported clinical outcomes. RESULTS: One hundred eighteen patients provided sufficient data for analysis (male, 75%; mean age, 51.4 y). Multilevel modeling suggested that a composite measure of pain intensity and functional limitations showed statistically significant improvements by the third appointment (Cohen's d=0.65). Pain-related self-efficacy outcomes showed a similar pattern of results but of smaller effect size (Cohen's d=0.22). The exploratory analysis identified that Brief CBT-CP modules addressing psychoeducation and goal setting, pacing, and relaxation training were associated with the most significant gains in treatment outcomes. DISCUSSION: These findings provide early support for the effectiveness of Brief CBT-CP when delivered by providers in every day Primary Care Behavioral Health settings. Results are discussed in relation to the need for additional research regarding the potential value of employing safe, population-based, nonpharmacological approaches to pain management in primary care.

Anhedonia and smoking cessation among Spanish-speaking Mexican-Americans.

OBJECTIVE: Smoking cessation is associated with improved health and reduced risk of disease. Understanding specific factors that are associated with smoking cessation is important both for identifying those who may have the greatest difficulty quitting smoking and tailoring smoking cessation interventions accordingly. Low positive affect/anhedonia, a key transdiagnostic symptom of several psychiatric disorders, is associated with lower levels of smoking cessation in the general population, but to date, few studies have examined factors influencing smoking cessation among Spanish-speaking Mexican-American smokers. METHODS: The current study examined whether low positive affect/anhedonia was inversely related to cessation status across 3 time points among Spanish-speaking Mexican-American smokers (N = 199) who were making a smoking quit attempt. RESULTS: Using multilevel modeling, the between-person low positive affect/anhedonia score was found to be inversely associated with smoking at quit day, 3 and 26 weeks after quit while controlling for relevant covariates (i.e., age, gender, education, income, relationship status, heaviness of smoking index) but not when controlling for other symptoms of depression. CONCLUSIONS: Contrary to prior research, the results of this study did not confirm the unique predictive role of low positive affect/anhedonia among Mexican Americans, suggesting that risk factors for this group may be different from other populations and cessation approaches may also need to differ. (PsycINFO Database Record

The use of ambulatory assessment in smoking cessation.

Ambulatory assessment of smoking behavior has greatly advanced our knowledge of the smoking cessation process. The current article first provides a brief overview of ecological momentary assessment for smoking cessation and highlights some of the primary advantages and scientific advancements made from this data collection method. Next, a discussion of how certain data collection tools (i.e., smoking topography and carbon monoxide detection) that have been traditionally used in lab-based settings are now being used to collect data in the real world. The second half of the paper focuses on the use of wearable wireless sensors to collect data during the smoking cessation process. Details regarding how these sensor-based technologies work, their application to newer tobacco products, and their potential to be used as intervention tools are discussed. Specific focus is placed on the opportunity to utilize novel intervention approaches, such as Just-In-Time Adaptive Interventions, to intervene upon smoking behavior. Finally, a discussion of some of the current challenges and limitations related to using sensor-based tools for smoking cessation are presented, along with suggestions for future research in this area.

Comparing college smokers' and dual users' expectancies towards cigarette smoking.

BACKGROUND: As no agreed upon definition exists for dual use (i.e., individuals who concurrently use more than one form of tobacco), this population remains largely unstudied in the substance use literature, despite increases in smokeless tobacco use among young adults. Individuals 18-25years of age report the highest rates of smokeless tobacco use, dual use, and cigarette use. The current study compared the smoking outcome expectancies of college student dual users to those who reported only smoking cigarettes. METHODS: The Short Form of the Smoking Consequences Questionnaire was used to examine potential differences in positive or negative expectations regarding cigarette use. RESULTS: Data from this study suggest that smokers believe that smoking will lead to greater positive consequences ("cigarettes taste good"), negative reinforcement ("cigarettes help me deal with anger"), and weight/appetite reduction ("smoking controls my appetite") when compared to dual users. Conversely, dual users believed that smoking would lead to greater negative consequences (e.g., "smoking is taking years off of my life"). DISCUSSION: These results may help to explain why some smokers choose not to use smokeless tobacco products for harm reduction or smoking cessation purposes, as well as why increases are being observed in smokeless tobacco rates among young adults.