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Biomedical subjects

David B Abrams

Publications and source records attributed to David B Abrams.

27 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Negative mood, depressive symptoms, and major depression after smoking cessation treatment in smokers with a history of major depressive disorder.

Negative mood, depressive symptoms, and major depressive episodes (MDEs) were examined in 179 smokers with a history of major depression in a trial comparing standard smoking cessation treatment to treatment incorporating cognitive-behavioral therapy for depression (CBT-D). Early lapses were associated with relatively large increases in negative mood on quit date. Mood improved in the 2 weeks after quit date among those returning to regular smoking but not among those smoking moderately. Continuous abstinence was associated with short- and long-term reductions in depressive symptoms. MDE incidence during follow-up was 15.3% and was not associated with abstinence. Unexpected was that CBT-D was associated with greater negative mood and depressive symptoms and increased MDE risk. Results suggest complex bidirectional associations between affect and smoking outcomes.

Adolescent↗

Patterns of change in depressive symptoms during smoking cessation: who's at risk for relapse?

The authors examined patterns of change in depressive symptoms during smoking cessation treatment in 163 smokers with past major depressive disorder (MDD). Cluster analysis of Beck Depression Inventory (A. T. Beck, C. H. Ward, M. Mendelson, J. Mock, & J. Erbaugh, 1961) scores identified 5 patterns of change. Although 40% of participants belonged to clusters characterized by increasing depressive symptoms during quitting (rapid increasers, n = 31, and delayed increasers, n = 35), almost 47% were in clusters characterized by decreasing symptoms (delayed decreasers, n = 24, and rapid decreasers, n = 52). Both rapid and delayed increasers had especially poor smoking cessation outcomes. Results suggest that among smokers with an MDD history there is substantial heterogeneity in patterns of depressive symptoms during quitting and that patterns involving increased symptoms are associated with low abstinence rates.

Adult↗

Smoking cessation: progress, priorities, and prospectus.

The authors review developments in understanding smoking cessation interventions over the past decade. Noteworthy is the unprecedented growth of research and knowledge that has left a deeper understanding of how best to use new and existing behavioral and pharmacologic tools and strategies to help smokers quit. The status of public-health-level interventions is evaluated, questions are raised concerning their efficacy, and suggestions are offered for further refinement of these intervention strategies. Development of cessation guidelines is reviewed, and the state of knowledge concerning behavioral and pharmacologic interventions is summarized. The authors also present agendas for behavioral and pharmacologic research related to smoking cessation and discuss individual difference factors among smokers that may prove to be important in designing new and refining existing treatments.

Health Promotion↗

Multicenter trial of fluoxetine as an adjunct to behavioral smoking cessation treatment.

The authors evaluated the efficacy of fluoxetine hydrochloride (Prozac; Eli Lilly and Company, Indianapolis, IN) as an adjunct to behavioral treatment for smoking cessation. Sixteen sites randomized 989 smokers to 3 dose conditions: 10 weeks of placebo, 30 mg, or 60 mg fluoxetine per day. Smokers received 9 sessions of individualized cognitive-behavioral therapy, and biologically verified 7-day self-reported abstinence follow-ups were conducted at 1, 3, and 6 months posttreatment. Analyses assuming missing data counted as smoking observed no treatment difference in outcomes. Pattern-mixture analysis that estimates treatment effects in the presence of missing data observed enhanced quit rates associated with both the 60-mg and 30-mg doses. Results support a modest, short-term effect of fluoxetine on smoking cessation and consideration of alternative models for handling missing data.

Adult↗

Challenges to improving the impact of worksite cancer prevention programs: comparing reach, enrollment, and attrition using active versus passive recruitment strategies.

OBJECTIVE: The impact of worksite intervention studies is maximized when reach and enrollment are high and attrition is low. Differences in reach, enrollment, and retention were investigated by comparing 2 different employee recruitment methods for a home-based cancer-prevention intervention study. METHODS: Twenty-two worksites (N = 10,014 employees) chose either active or passive methods to recruit employees into a home-based intervention study. Reach (e.g., number of employees who gave permission to be called at home), Enrollment (e.g., number of employees who joined the home intervention study), and Attrition (e.g., number who did not complete the 12- and 24-month follow-ups) were determined. Analysis at the cluster level assessed differences between worksites that selected active (n = 12) versus passive (n = 10) recruitment methods on key outcomes of interest. Employees recruited by passive methods had significantly higher reach (74.5% vs. 24.4% for active) but significantly lower enrollment (41% vs. 78%) and retention (54% vs. 70%) rates (all ps < .0001). Passive methods also successfully enrolled a more diverse, high-risk employee sample. Passive (vs. active) recruitment methods hold advantages for increased reach and the ability to retain a more representative employee sample. Implications of these results for the design of future worksite studies that involve multilevel recruitment methods are discussed.

Adult↗

Beauty and the beast: results of the Rhode Island smokefree shop initiative.

Licensed hairdressing facilities are prevalent in communities nationwide and represent a unique and promising channel for delivering public health interventions. The Rhode Island Smokefree Shop Initiative tested the feasibility of using these facilities to deliver smoking policy interventions statewide. A statewide survey of hairdressing facilities was followed by interventions targeted to the readiness level (high/low) of respondents to adopt smoke-free policies.

Barbering↗

Adolescents' reactions to the imagery displayed in smoking and antismoking advertisements.

This study compared adolescents' unbiased perceptions of the images displayed in smoking and antismoking advertising. Twenty-nine adolescents (ages 11-17) were shown images taken from both advertising types; all images were digitally edited so that no product information appeared in them. Participants described each image in a free-response format and rated each image on self-report dimensions. Content analyses of free-response descriptions and analyses of self-reports revealed that adolescents viewed images taken from cigarette advertisements more positively compared with images taken from antismoking advertisements. These findings suggest that I reason for the potency of cigarette advertising, compared with antismoking advertising, is the inherent positive appeal of the images displayed. Antismoking advertising may be more effective at limiting adolescent smoking if the images displayed have a more positive valence.

Adolescent↗

Depressive symptoms and readiness to quit smoking among cigarette smokers in outpatient alcohol treatment.

The authors examined whether length of alcohol abstinence and depressive symptoms were related to motivational readiness to consider smoking cessation among patients in alcohol treatment. Participants were adults (N = 253) enrolled in a smoking cessation trial. Controlling for gender, depressive symptoms, and nicotine dependence, hierarchical regression analysis of readiness scores revealed a significant interaction of days since last drink and depressive symptoms. It was found that a greater number of days since last drink was associated with greater readiness, but only among patients with low scores on the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (L. S. Radloff, 1977). The findings suggest that alcoholic smokers with low depressive symptoms are more receptive to quitting smoking after sustained alcohol abstinence.

Adult↗

Response to social stress, urge to smoke, and smoking cessation.

Motivational theories of drug use have assigned negative affect a central role in determining drug urges and drug relapse. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of social stress on smoking urges in a controlled laboratory setting, and the relation of these responses to short-term (3-month) smoking cessation outcomes. Prior to a clinic-based smoking cessation program, 76 (64% female) smokers were assessed for their affective, cognitive, and physiological responses during the Borkovec social anxiety induction procedure. These responses were used to predict smoking urges immediately after the procedure and to predict abstinence at 3-month follow-up posttreatment. As expected, during the induction, urge to smoke was positively associated with anxiety ratings and negatively associated with self-efficacy to resist smoking. However, only heart rate increase and behavioral social skill (observed by independent judges) predicted smoking abstinence at 3 months. These results suggest that subjective affective and efficacy responses during a stressful social encounter are associated with smoking urges; however, urges and these responses may be related in different ways to the probability of smoking cessation.

Adult↗