Perceived barriers to quitting smoking among alcohol dependent patients in treatment.
Little is known about the perceived barriers to quitting smoking among alcohol abusers. In addition to the usual barriers perceived by smokers, alcohol dependent smokers may have a few barriers unique to their addictive lifestyle. The Barriers to Quitting Smoking in Substance Abuse Treatment (BQS-SAT) was administered to 96 alcohol dependent smokers in residential substance abuse treatment. The BQS-SAT is designed to assess perceived barriers to quitting smoking among alcohol abusers using eleven true-false items. One open-ended item was included to gather information about potential additional barriers. The majority of respondents reported withdrawal-related barriers such as expecting to feel irritable, anxious, restless, and about half expected intolerable urges to smoke if they were to quit smoking, as most smokers do. However, concerns about effects on sobriety and needing cigarettes to cope with feeling down were also endorsed by almost half of the patients. Total number of perceived barriers was significantly related to smoking history, expected effects from smoking, and smoking temptation but was not associated with severity of alcohol use or dependence on admission. Providing corrective feedback about these barriers could be useful when addressing smoking with patients who have alcohol abuse or dependence.
Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies, Box G-BH, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island 02912, USA.
Marilyn K
MK
Asher
Rosemarie A
RA
Martin
Damaris J
DJ
Rohsenow
Selene Varney
SV
MacKinnon
Regina
R
Traficante
Peter M
PM
Monti
D000328:Adult; D019973:Alcohol-Related Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012494:Sampling Studies; D012907:Smoking / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D016540:Smoking Cessation / Q000523:psychology*; D000074606:Smoking Prevention; D016320:Substance Abuse Treatment Centers