Cigarette craving and subsequent coping responses among smoking cessation clinic participants

Withdrawal symptoms, including craving, have been cited as common reasons for relapse into smoking. This study looked at 29 subjects enrolled in a community-based smoking cessation clinic to determine their levels of craving at 48 hours and end-of-clinic, as well as to determine those situational factors that precipitated a craving episode and the subsequent coping responses used during the first 48 hours post-cessation. Subjects completed the Shiffman-Jarvik Craving Subscale (SJCS) and the Visual Analogue Scale of Craving (VAS) to measure the severity of their cigarette craving. Data obtained from both tools were analyzed via paired t-tests. Mean difference scores on the SJCS (D = 1.42, t = 4.58, p less than 0.0002) and the VAS (D = 36.39, t = 4.46, P less than 0.0003) indicated that all subjects experienced craving during the first 48 hours after quitting, and that craving decreased significantly over a two-week period, corresponding with the end-of-clinic. Situational factors related to craving included: being at work, negative affect, and late afternoon hours. Coping responses to craving were categorized as either affective- or problem-oriented, with the former cited by subjects 73% of the time.