Association of Spontaneous and Induced Self-Affirmation With Smoking Cessation in Users of a Mobile App: Randomized Controlled Trial.
J Med Internet Res
; 23(3): e18433, 2021 03 05.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-33666561
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Most smokers attempt to stop using cigarettes numerous times before successfully quitting. Cigarette cravings may undermine perceived competence to quit and thus constitute psychological threats to the individual's self-concept. Self-affirmation may promote smoking cessation by offsetting these threats.OBJECTIVE:
This study examines whether self-affirmation is associated with smoking cessation in the context of a cessation app. Two types of self-affirmation are examined tendency to spontaneously self-affirm, and self-affirmation inductions added to a publicly available smoking cessation app (Smoke-Free Quit Smoking Now). In addition, this study explores whether optimism and emotional states (happiness, anger, anxiousness, hopefulness, sadness) predict smoking cessation.METHODS:
All users who met the inclusion criteria, provided consent to participate, and completed a baseline assessment, including all individual difference measures, were randomized to 1 of 4 conditions. Half of the participants were randomly assigned to complete a self-affirmation induction upon study entry. Orthogonally, half of the participants were randomly assigned to receive self-affirming text notifications during their quit attempt or to receive conventional notifications. The induction and the text notifications were fully automated, and all data were collected through self-assessments in the app. Self-reported smoking cessation was assessed 1 month and 3 months following study entry.RESULTS:
The study enrolled 7899 participants; 647 completed the 1-month follow-up. Using an intent-to-treat analysis at the 1-month follow-up, 7.2% (569/7899) of participants self-reported not smoking in the previous week and 6.4% (503/7899) self-reported not smoking in the previous month. Greater tendency to spontaneously self-affirm predicted a greater likelihood of cessation (P<.001) at 1 month after controlling for smoking-related variables. Neither self-affirmation induction influenced cessation. In addition, spontaneous self-affirmation did not moderate the relationship between self-affirmation inductions and cessation. Greater baseline sadness was associated with a lower likelihood of reporting successful cessation. Optimism predicted past-week cessation at the 1-month follow-up, and both happiness and anger predicted past-month cessation at the 1-month follow-up; however, none of these potential predictors moderated the relationship between self-affirmation conditions and successful cessation.CONCLUSIONS:
Spontaneous self-affirmation may be an important psychological resource for managing threats to self-concept during the smoking cessation process. Sadness may hinder quit attempts. Future research can explicate how spontaneous versus induced self-affirmation can promote smoking cessation and examine boundary conditions for the effectiveness of disseminated self-affirmation interventions. TRIAL REGISTRATION ISRCTN Registry 56646695; https//www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN56646695.Palabras clave
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Banco de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Cese del Hábito de Fumar
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Envío de Mensajes de Texto
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Aplicaciones Móviles
Tipo de estudio:
Clinical_trials
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Prognostic_studies
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Risk_factors_studies
Límite:
Humans
Idioma:
En
Revista:
J Med Internet Res
Asunto de la revista:
INFORMATICA MEDICA
Año:
2021
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Estados Unidos