Positive psychotherapy for smoking cessation enhanced with text messaging: Protocol for a randomized controlled trial

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Public Health
• Behavioral Science

Background:

• Smoking cessation treatments need improvement as sustained abstinence rates remain low.
• Low positive affect and high negative affect are linked to smoking relapse.
• Few interventions target positive affect for smoking cessation, unlike depression-focused approaches.

Purpose of the Study:

• To test if a positive psychology-informed smoking cessation treatment improves cessation rates.
• To compare a novel positive psychotherapy intervention against standard behavioral counseling.
• To evaluate the efficacy of targeting positive affect in smoking cessation.

Main Methods:

• 340 adult daily smokers were randomized into two groups: positive psychotherapy or standard counseling.
• Both groups received a 6-week counseling, nicotine patch, and text messaging support.
• The positive psychotherapy group received additional text messages promoting positive psychology strategies.

Main Results:

• Smoking cessation outcomes will be assessed at 12, 26, and 52 weeks post-quit date.
• This randomized controlled trial will provide data on treatment efficacy.
• The study aims to determine if positive psychology enhances smoking cessation success.

Conclusions:

• This research will determine if positive psychology interventions improve smoking cessation outcomes.
• Findings will inform the development of more effective smoking cessation strategies.
• The study will provide evidence for integrating positive psychology into public health interventions.