Changes in Depression and Stress after Release from a Tobacco-Free Prison in the United States.

Prior research has found high levels of depression and stress among persons who are incarcerated in the United States (U.S.).

Changes in smoking-related symptoms during enforced abstinence of incarceration.

Background: Tobacco use among prisoners is much higher than among the general population. Little is known about changes in smoking-related symptoms during periods of incarceration. The objective of this study is to evaluate changes in smoking-related symptoms during incarceration.

Forced smoking abstinence: not enough for smoking cessation.

Importance: Millions of Americans are forced to quit smoking as they enter tobacco-free prisons and jails, but most return to smoking within days of release. Interventions are needed to sustain tobacco abstinence after release from incarceration.

Objective: To evaluate the extent to which the WISE intervention (Working Inside for Smoking Elimination), based on motivational interviewing (MI) and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), decreases relapse to smoking after release from a smoke-free prison.