Approach Bias Retraining to Augment Smoking Cessation
Nicotine Dependence
About this trial
This is an interventional treatment trial for Nicotine Dependence focused on measuring Cigarettes, Tobacco Use
Eligibility Criteria
Inclusion Criteria:
- Male and female patients ages 18-65 capable of providing informed consent
- Willing and able to provide informed consent, attend all study visits, and comply with the protocol
- Daily smoker for at least 1 year
- Currently smoke an average of at least 5 cigarettes per day
- Report a motivation to quit smoking of at least 5 on a 10-point scale
Exclusion Criteria:
- A lifetime history of bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, psychosis, or delusional disorders; an eating disorder in the past 6 months; organic brain syndrome, mental retardation or other cognitive dysfunction that could interfere with capacity to engage in therapy; a history of substance or alcohol abuse or dependence (other than nicotine) in the last 6 months or otherwise unable to commit to refraining from alcohol use during the acute period of study participation.
- Visual or hand-motoric impairments
- Current use of nicotine replacement therapy
- Current use of any other pharmacotherapy or psychotherapy for smoking cessation not provided by the researchers during the quit attempt
- Current use of tobacco products other than cigarettes
- Insufficient command of the English language as the treatment manual is written only in English and study staff are not fluent in other languages
Sites / Locations
- University of Texas at Austin
Arms of the Study
Arm 1
Arm 2
Experimental
Sham Comparator
Approach Bias Retraining Group
Control Group
Individuals in this condition will receive seven sessions of ABR training in which they are instructed to approach (pull the joystick) images tilted to the right and avoid (push the joystick) images tilted to the left. They will be told that the training may weaken automatic cigarette-approach and strengthen automatic cigarette-avoidance. Furthermore, they will be told that the opposite effect will be true for the stimuli not related to cigarettes (i.e., the positive stimuli).
Individuals in this condition will receive seven sessions of SHAM training in which they are instructed to approach (pull the joystick) images tilted to the right and avoid (push the joystick) images tilted to the left. They will be told that the purpose of the training is to improve control over these automatic tendencies and that following the training sessions, they will easily be able to push or pull the stimuli regardless of content.