An Algorithm Approach to Determining Smoking Cessation Treatment for Persons Living With HIV/AIDS: Results of a Pilot Trial.

Background: Smoking now represents one of the biggest modifiable risk factors for disease and mortality in people living with HIV (PLHIV). To produce significant changes in smoking rates among this population, treatments will need to be both acceptable to the larger segment of PLHIV smokers and feasible to implement in busy HIV clinics. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the feasibility and effects of a novel proactive algorithm-based intervention in an HIV/AIDS clinic.

Race and Medication Adherence Moderate Cessation Outcomes in Criminal Justice Smokers.

Introduction: Smokers in the criminal justice system represent some of the most disadvantaged smokers in the U.S., as they have high rates of smoking (70%-80%) and are primarily uninsured, with low access to medical interventions.

Evaluating the effect of access to free medication to quit smoking: a clinical trial testing the role of motivation.

Introduction: Although the majority of smokers are ambivalent about quitting, few treatments specifically target smokers lacking motivation to quit in the near future. Most existing interventions are instead predicated on the belief that active treatments should only be distributed to smokers interested in quitting, a largely untested assumption.

Methods: In the current clinical trial (N = 157), motivated smokers wanting to quit in the next 30 days were given a 2-week nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) sample and a referral to a quitline (Group MNQ), while unmotivated smokers were randomized to receive the same treatment (Group UNQ) or a quitline referral only (Group UQ).

Predictors of quit attempts and abstinence among smokers not currently interested in quitting.

Introduction: Rates of quitting smoking remain stagnant, and thus it is becoming increasingly important to identify determinants of successful quitting behavior. The primary purpose of the current study was to examine predictors of quit attempts and 7-day point prevalence abstinence in a large nationally based sample. The study population consisted exclusively of smokers with minimal interest in quitting in the immediate future, for whom the need to identify facilitating factors of cessation is highly significant.

The use of messages in altering risky gambling behavior in experienced gamblers.

The present study was an experimental analogue that examined the relationship between gambling-related irrational beliefs and risky gambling behavior. Eighty high-frequency gamblers were randomly assigned to four conditions and played a chance-based computer game in a laboratory setting. Depending on the condition, during the game a pop-up screen repeatedly displayed either accurate or inaccurate messages concerning the game, neutral messages, or no messages.

The Obsessive Compulsive Cocaine Scale: assessment of factor structure, reliability, and validity.

The present study assessed the factor structure, reliability, test retest, convergent validity, and predictive validity of the Obsessive Compulsive Cocaine Scale (OCCS), a newly developed questionnaire adapted from the Obsessive Compulsive Drinking Scale (OCDS). The questionnaire was administered to 189 cocaine-dependent individuals participating in two medication treatment trials for cocaine dependence. Confirmatory factor analysis of this measure revealed that it primarily assesses two factors, obsessions and compulsions.

Bulimic symptoms in undergraduate men and women: Contributions of mindfulness and thought suppression.

Experiential avoidance, the refusal to accept contact with unpleasant private experiences, is believed to play a role in the onset and maintenance of eating disorders. Preliminary evidence suggests that mindfulness- and acceptance-based interventions that reduce avoidance may be effective in treating disordered eating behaviors. The purpose of the current investigation was to examine whether one form of experiential avoidance (thought suppression) and the theoretically opposing construct of dispositional mindfulness are associated with bulimic symptoms.