Contingency management for smoking cessation: enhancing feasibility through use of immunoassay test strips measuring cotinine.

Contingency management (CM) is a powerful behavioral intervention shown to reduce the use of a variety of substances including tobacco. Use of CM techniques for smoking cessation has been restricted by the use of multiple daily measurements of breath CO as the objective indicator to reinforce abstinence. Cotinine, with its longer half-life, may be a better marker.

Effects of acute tobacco abstinence in adolescent smokers compared with nonsmokers.

Purpose: Abstinence effects such as nicotine withdrawal and mood changes contribute to the maintenance of cigarette smoking in adult smokers, and emerging reports on adolescent smokers suggest they may experience similar subjective effects when deprived. This study aimed to prospectively document tobacco abstinence-induced changes during the first 48 hours of abstinence in adolescent smokers compared with nonsmokers, to distinguish effects distinct from typical adolescent lability.

Methods: Fifty-seven adolescent smokers and 44 adolescent nonsmokers were assessed during a 48-hour inpatient session.