Expressive writing as a smoking cessation treatment adjunct for young adult smokers.
This investigation evaluated the efficacy of expressive writing as a treatment adjunct to a brief office smoking cessation intervention plus nicotine patch therapy in young adults. Participants aged 18-24 years were randomized to a brief office intervention (n=99) or to an expressive writing plus brief office intervention (n=97). Both conditions received four individual visits plus 6 weeks of nicotine patch therapy, which began on the quit date following the week 2 visit. Participants in the expressive writing plus brief intervention condition wrote for 2 consecutive days before and 3 consecutive days after the quit date. The brief office intervention group completed a control writing assignment. At end of treatment (week 8), biochemically confirmed 7-day point-prevalence abstinence for the expressive writing plus brief office intervention condition was significantly greater than for the brief office condition (33% vs. 20%, p=.043, OR=2.0, 95% CI=1.0-3.7, from a logistic regression adjusting for gender). At 24 and 52 weeks, abstinence rates were similar for the brief office intervention versus expressive writing plus brief office intervention (12% vs. 11% at 24 weeks; 11% vs. 11% at 52 weeks). The results suggest that expressive writing has promise as a smoking cessation treatment adjunct for young adults. Lengthier interventions or the use of boosters should be tested to extend treatment effects. However, participants reported a low level of enthusiasm for the expressive writing, which may be a barrier to implementing it over a longer time frame. Therefore, other modes of delivering expressive writing to young adult cigarette smokers should be explored.
Ames
Steven C
SC
Mayo Clinic Cancer Center, Jacksonville, FL 32224, USA. ames.steven@mayo.edu
Patten
Christi A
CA
Werch
Chudley E
CE
Schroeder
Darrell R
DR
Stevens
Susanna R
SR
Fredrickson
Paul A
PA
Echols
J Dan
JD
Pennebaker
James W
JW
Hurt
Richard D
RD
D000328:Adult; D006801:Humans; D009538:Nicotine / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D012907:Smoking / Q000628:therapy*; D016540:Smoking Cessation / Q000379:methods*; D014956:Writing
D009538:Nicotine