Browsing by Subject "Smoking cessation"
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Item Effects of smoking cessation on sexual health in men(2011-08) Harte, Christopher Brookes; Meston, Cindy M.; Telch, Michael J.; Carlson, Caryn L.; Beevers, Christopher G.; Perry, Cheryl L.Cigarette smoking represents the most preventable cause of morbidity and mortality in the world today, and is responsible for enormous health-related economic burdens. Among other medical sequelae, erectile impairment has been shown to be associated with chronic tobacco use. The primary aim of the present study was to provide the first empirical investigation of the effects of smoking cessation on physiological and subjective indices of sexual health. Sixty-five long-term, heavy smoking men participated in a smoking cessation program and were assessed at baseline (while smoking regularly), at mid-treatment (while using a high dose nicotine transdermal patch), and at 4-week follow-up. Physiological and subjective sexual arousal indices, as well as self-reported sexual functioning (as measured by the International Index of Erectile Functioning (IIEF)) were assessed during each visit. Intent-to-treat analyses indicated that at followup successful quitters (n = 20), compared to those who relapsed (n = 45), showed significant improvements in physiological and subjective sexual arousal. Specifically, men demonstrated enhanced erectile responses, decreased latencies to reach maximum erectile capacity, and faster onset to reach maximum subjective sexual arousal. Although participants displayed across-session enhancements in self reported sexual function, successful quitters did not show a differential improvement compared to participants who relapsed. The results of the present investigation provide the first empirical evidence that smoking cessation significantly enhances both physiological and self-reported indices of sexual health in long-term male smokers, irrespective of baseline erectile impairment. It is hoped that these results may serve as a novel and enticing means to influence men to quit smoking. Increasing successful smoking cessation in men would significantly enhance quality of life, substantially reduce premature death, and alleviate enormous economic burdens caused by smoking-related diseases.Item Examining differences between light and heavy smokers in a sample of technical college students(2007-12) De Araujo, Vanessa Alencar; Loukas, Alexandra; Gottlieb, Nell H.This study examined differences between light and heavy smokers in race/ethnicity, gender, use of other tobacco products (chewing tobacco and cigars), reasons for smoking, smoking contexts and propensity for smoking cessation. Data were obtained from the Texas Trade and Technical School Survey designed to examine individual and contextual influences on the tobacco use and cessation of a sample of East Texas vocational/technical students. Current analyses included 209 current smokers categorized into two groups based on the number of cigarettes smoked per day: light (≤ 10 cigarettes per day) and heavy smokers (≥ 11 cigarettes per day). Of the current smokers, 49.5% were female; 74% were European American, 14.8% were African American, 6.1% were Hispanic/Latino, and the remainder reported another race/ethnicity. Light smokers constituted 60.3% of the sample. Light smokers were more likely than heavy smokers to be of non-European American race/ethnicity (p = 0.001), to have used chewing tobacco for more than ten days in the past 30 days (19.7% versus 2.6%), and to report a desire to quit smoking on their own (p < 0.05). Heavy smokers (81.3%) were slightly (p = 0.056) more likely to report ever having attempted to quit smoking than light smokers (69.2%), and significantly more likely to use medication, such as the patch, as a resource for quitting (p < 0.05). As expected, heavy smokers were more addicted to cigarettes than light smokers as reflected in significant differences between the two groups in the following statements: " If I don't smoke, I shake" (p < 0.01), and "Out of a habit" (p < 0.001), showing a greater level of dependence among heavy smokers when compared to light smokers. Moreover, in comparison to light smokers, heavy smokers were more likely to smoke when feeling stressed and depressed (p < 0.001), at parties, and at bars (p < 0.05). Examining such subgroups variations in vocational/technical students will contribute to a better understanding of the smoking behaviors of this population, and will allow tailoring of health promotion programs that include tobacco prevention and cessation to a population of individuals at elevated risk for cigarette consumption and health related illnesses. This study fills the void in the literature of light and heavy smokers, and expands previous research on vocational/technical students.Item Reducing approach bias to achieve smoking cessation : a pilot randomized placebo-controlled trial(2016-07-29) Baird, Scarlett O'hara; Smits, Jasper A. J.; Powers, Mark BThis study aimed to provide a preliminary test of the efficacy of a brief cognitive bias modification program for reducing approach bias in adult smokers motivated to quit. Participants were 52 smokers who were randomly assigned to four sessions of approach bias modification training (AAT) or sham training. Participants were asked to make a self-guided quit attempt upon completion of the final training session. Approach bias was assessed at baseline and at the end of each session, and days abstinent was assessed 1-week following the quit attempt. Individuals assigned to the AAT training condition evidenced significantly greater reductions in approach bias relative to those in the sham condition (p<.001). Baseline approach bias did not moderate the between-group effect (ps>.41); however, higher levels of approach bias at baseline were associated with greater approach bias reduction over time (p<.001). Consistent with prediction, the reduction in approach bias during the intervention period was significantly related to the number of days abstinent following the quit attempt (p=.033). The present study extends recent work in alcohol use disorders by showing that approach bias reduction, in this case for smoking-related stimuli, may also facilitate smoking cessation. Clinical and research implications are discussed.Item Smoke signals : patterns of agency assignment in smoking initiation and cessation narratives(2017-05) Wartel, Max Aaron; McGlone, Matthew S., 1966-; Vangelisti, Anita; Ballard, Dawna; Banas, JohnThis research sought to describe and understand patterns of linguistic agency assignment in smoking cessation narratives. To this end, a corpus of these narratives gathered from an online twelve step cessation program, Voices of Nicotine Recovery (VONR), was constructed and an objective scheme for coding linguistic agency assignment in ex-smokers’ cessation narratives was developed. When discussing smoking and addiction, speakers have the option of linguistically assigning agency (i.e., the capacity for action) to themselves, others, inanimate objects, or to abstract concepts like addiction. Patterns of agency assignment may provide insight into conceptions of efficacy and responsibility for addictive behaviors. The author predicted patterns of linguistic agency based on the dominant disease model of addiction, cessation programs based in this model, and extant findings concerning self-efficacy and nicotine addiction. The author hypothesized that ascription of agency would vary during the stages of addiction such that personal agency would decline and non-personal and non-human agency would increase following addiction. Findings were consistent with predictions concerning increases in non-human agency following nicotine addiction relative to pre-initiation levels. However, observed patterns of agency assignment were not consistent with other predictions based in the disease model. It was also hypothesized that following the expected decrease in personal agency ascription after smoking initiation, personal agency assignment would then increase leading to cessation attempts. During quit attempts, personal agency assignment was expected to decrease before rising following successful cessation to its highest post-initiation levels. As predicted, the highest post-initiation levels of personal agency assignment were observed following cessation. However, the data were inconsistent with expected patterns of linguistic agency for other stages. These findings suggest that the study of linguistic agency in addiction narratives may contribute to an improved understanding of how addiction operates and the extent to which the disease model is predictive of the way in which recovering nicotine addicts view their addiction and cessation. Findings, implications, and additional areas of research are discussed.Item Social features of Web Assisted Tobacco Interventions (WATIS) : case studies(2014-05) Boa-Ventura, Ana, 1962-; Straubhaar, Joseph D.; Tyner, Kathleen; Beamish, Anne; McAlister, Alfred; Stein, LauraWeb Assisted Tobacco Interventions (WATIs) are proliferating due to their cost effectiveness and their compatibility with a fast-paced lifestyle that needs to be time and space detached. Following a general trend in web assisted interventions, WATIs are increasingly incorporating social media features. Often though, because they are added post-facto to a solid preexisting foundation that privileges information delivery, the social media and the informational sections are developed independently: the social component has no impact on the informational content. This forms the basis of this study, which proposes to do a detailed analysis of a WATI recommended by a panel of experts in the area of smoking cessation. An emphasis will be given to the visibility of social media features and the degree to which content from the social media component contributed by users impacts the informational component generated by content experts. This analysis will be supported by instruments for data collection especially adapted/designed for this study. This dissertation proposal is at the cusp of disciplinary boundaries as its theoretical underpinnings are in the intersections of three domains: design, health, and social media. This interdisciplinary approach is necessarily reflected in the study's conceptual vii framework, which draws from constructs such as "design with intent", tailored health interventions, and social networks for participatory culture. As a result of the detailed analysis, and the author's own expertise in social media across other fields, a set of recommendations will be proposed for the design of WATIs with social features aiming at a greater impact of these on the evidence-based informational content.