Cigarette smoking among college students is prevalent and associated with a host of physically and psychologically unhealthy behaviors. The goal of the current study is to experimentally test the feasibility of using contingency management techniques to reduce cigarette smoking among college students, and to test the effects of reinforcer magnitude. Participants will be 86 undergraduate students who are current smokers, but are not currently engaged in other structured smoking cessation efforts. A mixed two-factor design will be used. The within-subject factor will consist of a reversal design (ABA), with each phase lasting one week. The first and third weeks of the study will consist of baseline phases. The second week will consist of an intervention phase, during which monetary payments contingent on cigarette abstinence will be available. The between-subject factor will manipulate the amount of money available during the intervention week; participants assigned to the low-magnitude condition can earn up to $40 in exchange for providing objective evidence of recent smoking abstinence, while participants assigned to the high-magnitude condition can earn up to $80. A follow-up session will be conducted 2 weeks after the end of the second baseline period. Throughout the study, breath carbon monoxide readings will be used to monitor cigarette smoking and abstinence, and will be used as the primary outcome measure. A series of analyses will be used to examine the effects of the intervention phase on the total number of abstinences, number of consecutive abstinences, and mean carbon monoxide levels. In addition to investigating the feasibility of contingency management interventions with college students, the information gained in the current study will facilitate the implementation of larger-scale interventions for college student smokers.
| Correia, Christopher J; Benson, Trisha A (2006) The use of contingency management to reduce cigarette smoking among college students. Exp Clin Psychopharmacol 14:171-9 |
