Thought-stopping as a treatment for reducing cigarette smoking

Abstract

Three treatments, thought-stopping, group discussion, and the wearing of a badge saying "I don't smoke", each combined with self-monitoring, were compared to one another and to self-monitoring alone for their ability to modify the smoking behavior of 60 volunteers. All procedures led to an important reduction of the smoking rate at the beginning of treatment, the reduction being significantly greater with thought-stopping. The latter remained the most successful treatment during the 6-month follow-up, although it did not differ significantly from self-monitoring alone.