Prize contingency management for smoking cessation: a randomized trial.

Area of Science:

• Behavioral Science
• Addiction Medicine
• Public Health

Background:

• Adjunctive behavioral treatments can enhance smoking cessation outcomes.
• Standard care (SC) for smoking cessation involves brief counseling and monitoring.
• Prize-based contingency management (CM) offers incentives for verified smoking abstinence.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare standard care (SC) with SC plus prize-based contingency management (CM).
• To evaluate two prize reinforcement schedules: traditional CM and early enhanced CM.
• To assess the efficacy of CM in improving smoking cessation rates.

Main Methods:

• Eighty-one nicotine-dependent smokers were randomly assigned to three conditions.
• One group received SC; another received SC plus traditional CM.
• The third group received SC plus early enhanced CM, with greater initial reinforcement.

Main Results:

• Prize CM significantly reduced smoking during the treatment period compared to SC.
• No significant long-term reductions in smoking were observed at follow-up.
• No meaningful differences were found between traditional and early enhanced CM schedules.

Conclusions:

• Prize-based CM effectively reduces smoking during treatment compared to standard care.
• The positive effects of CM on smoking cessation did not extend beyond the treatment phase.
• Both traditional and enhanced CM schedules demonstrated similar efficacy.