Tailored Interventions for Motivating Smoking Cessation: Using Placebo Tailoring to Examine the Influence of Expectancies and Personalization.

Abstract

The present study examined mechanisms underlying the effectiveness of tailored interventions for motivating smoking cessation. The study used a placebo-tailoring design to test whether the efficacy of tailoring was due, in part, to personalized features in addition to the theoretically based content. Two hundred forty adult smokers were randomized to 1 of 3 conditions: standard booklet, minimally personalized booklet, or extensively personalized booklet. The interventions varied in their degree of ostensible tailoring, yet the actual smoking-related content of the booklets was identical. A dose-response relationship was hypothesized, with the greatest apparent tailoring producing the most positive outcomes. This pattern was found for evaluation of the booklets, with trends for readiness to change and self-efficacy increases. Moreover, as hypothesized, the effect of the interventions on readiness was moderated by participants' expectancies about tailoring.

Dispositional predictors of placebo responding: A motivational interpretation of flower essence and gratitude therapy

“…In addition, the importance of engagement with a ritual is consistent with a study showing that self-help instructions that are perceived as tailored to the needs of the person are more effective in producing change than nonpersonalized instructions [59]. Our interpretation of these data is that the salience of a ritual is increased by its perceived relevance, and personalizing increases perceived relevance.…”

“…Failure to take motivational context into account may have contributed to previous inconsistencies in data. On the basis of our and other data [58,59], we believe that there is now evidence for a nonexpectancy-mediated, motivational mechanism whereby the positive experience of engaging in the therapeutic ritual has health promoting benefits. Therapeutic rituals are effective due to several psychological mechanisms.…”

Translation of the Diabetes Prevention Program to Ethnic Communities in the United States

“…The group-based approach is a significant strength as it is cost effective and is a vehicle that taps into the high value that certain ethnic minorities may place on community, family, and collectivism [25,53]. Furthermore, the inclusion of bilingual staff and materials, features of the work with Hispanics/Latinos and Arab Americans, reduces barriers to treatment, and may make participants feel as though the intervention is personalized, a factor which can influence intervention effectiveness [32,55]. This strongly suggests that future translations of the DPP be responsive and sensitive to the needs of non-native English speakers.…”

Health disparities and culturally specific treatment: Perspectives and expectancies of African American smokers

“…Taken together, findings from this study suggest that expectancies might be one of the factors that moderate the efficacy of CS interventions. The construct of expectancies is important, as this robust psychological phenomenon has been shown to influence clinical outcomes (Kirsch, 1985(Kirsch, , 1990, including receptivity to interventions (Garfield, 1994;Webb et al, 2005) and tobacco smoking (Brandon, Juliano, & Copeland, 1999). Kreuter et al (2002) and Resnicow et al (1999) articulated thoughtful models for CS intervention development.…”