The use of contingency management to reduce cigarette smoking among college students

Abstract

The current study tested the feasibility of using contingency management to reduce cigarette smoking among college students. Eighty-eight undergraduate smokers were enrolled in a 3-week ABA study. During the baseline weeks, participants earned noncontingent monetary payments for attending data collection sessions. During the intervention week, participants earned monetary payments contingent on demonstrating recent abstinence. Participants were randomly assigned to either a low- or a high-reinforcer magnitude condition that controlled the amount of money that could be earned during the intervention week. Cigarette smoking was significantly reduced during the intervention week relative to the baseline weeks, and greater reductions were achieved under the high-reinforcer magnitude condition. These results suggest that cigarette smoking among college students is responsive to contingency management procedures.