Cue exposure treatment for smoking relapse prevention: a controlled clinical trial

Abstract

Aims: In an additive design, test the efficacy of cue exposure treatment for smoking relapse prevention as an adjunct to current standard cognitive behavioral and pharmacological treatments.

Design: Randomized, controlled clinical trial.

Setting: Outpatient behavioral medicine clinic.

Participants: One hundred and twenty-nine cigarette smokers recruited through newspaper advertisements.

Intervention: After receiving an initial counseling session for cessation and setting a quit day, 129 smokers were randomly assigned to one of four relapse prevention treatment conditions: (1) brief cognitive behavioral; (2) cognitive behavioral and nicorette gum; (3) cognitive behavioral and cue exposure; and (4) cognitive behavioral and cue exposure with nicorette gum. All smokers met individually with their counselor for six RP sessions.

Measures: Seven-day, point-prevalence abstinence rates (CO verified) taken at 1, 3, 6 and 12-months post-treatment and time to first slip.

Findings: All manipulation checks and process measures suggested that the treatments were delivered as intended. There were no significant differences between conditions in point-prevalence abstinence rates or in time to first slip.

Conclusions: These results call into question the utility of cue exposure treatment for smoking relapse prevention.