Smoking Response Inhibition Training

Smoking is the leading preventable cause of death and disease in the U.S. Each year
approximately 30% of smokers try to quit, with the vast majority of attempts (~90%) ending
in relapse. This is complicated by treatment barriers related to cost and accessibility.
Identifying cost effective ways to aide in cessation success, which can be widely
disseminated, remains vitally important. According to the dual-process model of substance
use, addiction develops via an imbalance between effortful control and automatic
psychological processes. The affective processing model suggests that during withdrawal,
automatic psychological processes increase implicit drug seeking motivation. Implicit
motivation is hypothesized as the underlying mechanism through which automatic psychological
processes exert control over behavior. Research suggests that behavioral impulse control may
attenuate the association between implicit motivation and substance use. Response
inhibition, one form of behavioral impulse control, is the ability to inhibit behavioral
responses to salient approach cues. Smokers tend to have less behavioral impulse control. In
addition, poor behavioral impulse control makes individuals more vulnerable to various risk
factors associated with relapse (e.g., positive expectancies, higher craving during
abstinence, etc.). Improving smoking relevant behavioral impulse control may affect multiple
indices of relapse. Research in cognitive retraining has shown that response inhibition can
be modified through training. Recently this has been extended to training using mobile
devices. The development of mobile interventions which specifically target underlying
mechanisms of addiction may provide a novel adjunct to current cessation programs. The
current proposal builds on previous research by implementing a response inhibition training
paradigm in the context of a cessation trial. It is hypothesized that this task will reduce
the likelihood of relapse following a quit attempt. Furthermore, it is hypothesized that
training effects will operate via decreases in implicit motivation and global craving. If
successful, the current study will provide evidence for a relapse prevention tool that can
(1) increase overall cessation success and (2) be widely and easily dispersed.

Inclusion Criteria:

- Individuals 18-45 years old, who smoke at least 10 cigarettes/day, score 5 or higher
on the Fägerstrom Test of Nicotine Dependence, express a desire to quit, and have no
current psychiatric diagnoses.

Exclusion Criteria:

- Individuals will be ineligible to participate if they have used other tobacco
products (e.g., smokeless tobacco) on more than 5 days in the past month, intend to
quit smoking using pharmacotherapy, or are non-English speaking.