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Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2024 Jan 22;26(2):229-236.
doi: 10.1093/ntr/ntad183.

Partner-Involved Financial Incentives for Smoking Cessation in Dual-Smoker Couples: A Randomized Pilot Trial

Michelle R vanDellen  1 , Julian W C Wright  1 , Bokai Zhao  2 , Caleigh Cullinan  1 , Steven R H Beach  1 , Ye Shen  2 , LeeAnn B Haskins  1 , William M Schiavone  1 , James M MacKillop  3
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Partner-Involved Financial Incentives for Smoking Cessation in Dual-Smoker Couples: A Randomized Pilot Trial

Michelle R vanDellen et al. Nicotine Tob Res. .

Abstract

Introduction: Members of dual-smoker couples (in which both partners smoke) are unlikely to try to quit smoking and are likely to relapse if they do make an attempt. The purpose of this study was to investigate the feasibility, tolerability, and preliminary outcomes of dyadic adaptations of financial incentive treatments (FITs) to promote smoking cessation in dual-smoker couples.

Aims and methods: We enrolled 95 dual-smoker couples (N = 190) in a three-arm feasibility RCT comparing two partner-involved FITs (single vs. dual incentives) against a no-treatment control condition. Participants in all conditions were offered nicotine replacement and psychoeducation. A 3-month follow-up provided information about retention, tolerability (ie, self-reported benefits and costs of the study), and preliminary efficacy (ie, program completion, quit attempts, point-prevalent abstinence, and joint quitting).

Results: Results suggest dyadic adaptations were feasible to implement (89% retention rate) and highly tolerable for participants (p < .001). Neither feasibility nor tolerability varied across the treatment arm. Preliminary efficacy outcomes indicated partner-involved FITs have promise for increasing smoking cessation in dual-smoker couples (OR = 2.36-13.06).

Conclusions: Dyadic implementations of FITs are feasible to implement and tolerable to participants.

Implications: The evidence that dyadic adaptations of FITs were feasible and tolerable, and the positive preliminary efficacy outcomes suggest that adequately powered RCTs formally evaluating the efficacy of dyadic adaptations of FITs for dual-smoker couples are warranted.

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Conflict of interest statement

JM is a principal and senior scientist in Beam Diagnostics, Inc. and has served as a consultant to Clairvoyant Therapeutics, Inc. No other authors have disclosures.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
CONSORT diagram.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
(A) Preliminary Efficacy Outcomes in Partner-Involved Financial Incentive Treatments (PIFs) versus no-FIT (Financial Incentive Treatment) among targets. (B) Preliminary Efficacy Outcomes in Partner-Involved Financial Incentive Treatments (PIFs) versus no-FIT (Financial Incentive Treatment) among partners. Error bars refer to the 95% confidence interval of the proportion by Wald test.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (US) Office on Smoking and Health. The Health Consequences of Smoking—50 Years of Progress: A Report of the Surgeon General. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (US); 2014.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK179276/. Accessed October 14, 2022. - PubMed
    1. Fitzsimons GM, Finkel EJ, vanDellen MR.. Transactive goal dynamics. Psychol Rev. 2015;122(4):648–673. - PubMed
    1. vanDellen MR. Health behavior change in transactive systems. Soc Personal Psychol Compass. 2019;13(11). doi:10.1111/spc3.12505. - DOI
    1. Sterba KR, Rabius V, Carpenter MJ, et al. . Dyadic efficacy for smoking cessation: peliminary assessment of a new instrument. Nicotine Tob Res. 2011;13(3):194–201. - PMC - PubMed
    1. vanDellen MR, Lewis MA, Toll BA, Lipkus IM.. Do couple-focused cessation messages increase motivation to quit among dual-smoker couples? J Smok Cessat. 2019;14(2):95–103. - PMC - PubMed

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