An evaluation of current methods of modifying smoking behavior

Abstract

PROBLEMWe have been studying relapse rates after treatment for smoking, alcoholism, and heroin addiction(33* 34, 35, 36* 3 7 ) . Starting with a group of people who have completed treatment successfully and are abstemious a t its termination, we find that many relapse quickly into their previous pattern of nonabstemious behavior, which results in a negatively accelerated curve over time that breaks fairly sharply a t the 3-to &month point and asymptotes well above zero with a residue roughly of about 25% long-time abstainers. The relative uniformity of such curves across the different addictions studied has theoretical implications, but remembering that such curves are composites obtained by averaging many different treatment methods in many different studies, it is apparent that they also offer a source of evaluative comparison to assess the success of any individual treatment. As we have suggested(33+ 35) such evaluation would enable us to concentrate our developmental efforts oil those treatments that show above-average promise, e.g., standard deviation above the norm, and to neglect the less successful ones.The present study offers such an evaluation of methods to modify smoking behavior.

Control of Cigarette Smoking from a Psychological Perspective

“…This variability is due in part to (0) the differences in populations, (b) the small samples often used (17,25,46,47), and (c) the application of the same name to different techniques because of inadequacies of the individual models guiding their description.…”

“…As noted above, when reliable treatment effects do occur, they decrease rapidly during the first month, and continue to decrease sharply until the third month, where they level off, with some small additional decrease through the fi rst year (17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24). With few notable exceptions (15,(57)(58)(59), most studies do not give the complete picture of relapse.…”

“…The long-term smoking cessation rates obtained in the many large-scale smoking control programs are little more encouraging than those in the general population (15,16). When reliable treatment effects do occur, they decrease rapidly during the first month, and continue to decrease sharply until the third month, where they level off, with some small additional decrease through the fi rst year (17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24).…”

Pušenje i alkoholizam: učestalost u populaciji studenata

“…Posle prestanka pušenja velika je verovatnoća da će doći do relapsa. Studije pokazuju da se većina pušača vraća starim navikama pušenja u roku od tri meseca [17]. Potencijal za relaps ostaje prisutan dugi niz godina, tako da i kod onih koji su uspostavili apstinenciju od tri meseca postoji verovatnoća da se vrate, ali svakako manja [18].…”

Smoking cessation program: baseline carbon monoxide and serum thiocyanate levels as predictors of outcome.

“…Few cessation programs report long-term follow-up data, and those that do are generally not encouraging. 1 Hunt,et al,4 5 have measured smoking recidivism over time, and have shown that two-thirds of such recidivism occurs within three months of the end of the cessation program, and three-fourths within six months.…”