Experimental evidence for a causal relationship between smoking lapse and relapse.
In this study, the authors prospectively evaluated the impact of a smoking lapse on relapse probability. After 4 days of smoking abstinence, 60 smokers were randomly assigned to smoke 5 nicotine-containing or 5 denicotinized cigarettes, or to remain abstinent (no lapse) during a 4-hr time period. Afterward, smoking abstinence was encouraged with monetary incentives, and smoking behavior was tracked for 6 days. Relative to the no-lapse condition, exposure to either of the cigarette types more than doubled the probability of subsequent smoking. Smoking outcomes did not differ between nicotine-containing and denicotinized cigarettes. The data suggest that stimulus factors may play an important role in lapse to relapse processes.
Department of Psychology, American University, Washington, DC 20016, USA. juliano@american.edu
Laura M
LM
Juliano
Eric C
EC
Donny
Elisabeth J
EJ
Houtsmuller
Maxine L
ML
Stitzer
D000328:Adult; D015984:Causality; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012008:Recurrence; D012074:Remission Induction; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology*