title: Practicing self-control lowers the risk of smoking lapse.
abstract: Recent research has suggested that practicing small acts of self-control can lead to an improvement in self-control performance. Because smoking cessation requires self-control, it was hypothesized that a treatment that builds self-control should help in quitting smoking. A total of 122 smokers either practiced small acts of self-control for 2 weeks before quitting smoking or practiced a task that increased their awareness of self-control or feelings of confidence, without exercising self-control. Their smoking status was assessed using daily telephone calls and biochemically verified. Individuals who practiced self-control remained abstinent longer than those who practiced tasks that did not require self-control. Supplemental analyses suggested that the increased survival times were a product of building self-control strength and were not produced by changes in feelings that practicing should help in cessation, effort exerted on the practice task, or thinking more about self-control while practicing.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University at Albany, Albany, NY 12222, USA. muraven@albany.edu
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Muraven
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001364:Awareness; D001521:Behavior Therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011214:Practice, Psychological; D020377:Self Efficacy; D012907:Smoking / Q000628:therapy*; D016540:Smoking Cessation / Q000379:methods*; D012927:Social Control, Informal; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires