Examining Outcome Expectancies and Behavioral Reinforcers Among Young Adult Smokers

Chronic cigarette smoking habits often begin in adolescence or early adulthood. 98% of cigarette smokers try their first cigarette before the age of 26. Thus, young adult smokers represent an important target for early smoking cessation intervention. This study tests two interventions designed to increase motivation to quit and decrease smoking behavior. These interventions include: an expectancy challenge approach, which aims to increase negative beliefs about the consequences of smoking; and a behavioral economics approach, which encourages participants to substitute non-smoking behaviors that may still provide reinforcement similar to reinforcement derived from smoking a cigarette.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Smoking Cessation
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Expectancy Challenge; Behavioral: Expectancy Challenge + Behavioral Activation; Behavioral: Control

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 159
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • District of Columbia
    • Washington, District of Columbia, United States, 20016
      • American University

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 35 years (Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• 18-35 years old
• English fluency
• Living in the United States
• Smoked at least 1 cigarette per week during the past month
• Willing to be contacted for 1-month follow up assessment

Exclusion Criteria:

• N/A

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

3

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: Expectancy Challenge; The expectancy challenge intervention will involve two brief videotaped testimonials in which former smokers discuss their experiences with smoking-related health conditions. Participants will be encouraged to reflect back on the content of each video once per week leading up to the follow-up assessment.	Behavioral: Expectancy Challenge; Expectancy challenge intervention (see description in study arms).
Experimental: Expectancy Challenge + Behavioral Activation; In addition to the expectancy challenge intervention (see Expectancy Challenge condition), participants in the Expectancy Challenge + Behavioral Activation group will also receive a novel behavioral activation intervention. Participants will be presented with brief psychoeducation about behavioral activation, several examples of possible functions of cigarette smoking, and several suggestions of behavioral strategies. All participants will receive the same information, but they will be encouraged to apply the information to their personal circumstances and to consider additional examples of rewarding activities they may engage in over the next four weeks. Participants will also be encouraged to engage in at least one behavioral activation activity each week leading up to the follow-up assessment.	Behavioral: Expectancy Challenge + Behavioral Activation; Expectancy challenge + behavioral activation interventions (see description in study arms)
Placebo Comparator: Neutral Reading; The control group will receive neutral reading materials related to the components and structure of a cigarette. The content will be strictly curated so as to avoid inadvertently encouraging or discouraging smoking among participants.	Behavioral: Control; Neutral reading condition (see description in study arms).

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Quit attempt	yes/no, whether or not the participant made a 24-hour (or longer) quit attempt between the date of the main experiment and the date of the 4-week follow-up assessment.	4-week follow up
Motivation to quit	Contemplation ladder score (range 0-10; higher scores indicate more motivation to quit)	4-week follow up

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Smoking rate	past month average self-reported smoking rate	4-week follow up
Outcome expectancies	Smoking Consequences Questionnaire (S-SCQ); expected positive and negative consequences of cigarette smoking (range 0-9; higher scores indicate greater positive or negative expectancies)	4-week follow up
Behavioral reinforcers	Pleasant Events Schedule (PES); reported behaviors that are pleasurable and not associated with smoking/urge to smoke	4-week follow up

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: American University

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): May 22, 2020
• Primary Completion (Actual): December 7, 2020
• Study Completion (Actual): January 4, 2021

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: May 7, 2020
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 11, 2020
• First Posted (Actual): May 12, 2020

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): January 20, 2021
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 18, 2021
• Last Verified: January 1, 2021

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: smoking cessation; motivation; outcome expectancies; behavioral reinforcers
• Other Study ID Numbers: KDYAS2020

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No