Developing Mood-Based Computer-Tailored Health Communication for Smoking Cessation: Feasibility Randomized Controlled...

Area of Science:

• Health Communication
• Behavioral Science
• Psychology

Background:

• Computer-tailored health communication (CTHC) enhances smoking cessation interventions by personalizing messages.
• Recent CTHC interventions incorporate contextual factors like stress or location.
• The impact of participants' mood on CTHC effectiveness for smoking cessation remains unexplored.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between mood states and the effectiveness of smoking cessation messages.
• To determine if mood influences message receptivity, perceived relevance, and motivation to quit among adult smokers.

Main Methods:

• A web-based sample of 615 adult smokers was recruited.
• Participants were randomized into positive, negative, or neutral mood conditions using standardized image stimuli.
• Participants viewed 30 smoking cessation messages across five themes and rated message receptivity, perceived relevance, and motivation to quit.

Main Results:

• Mood significantly affected motivation to quit (P=.02), but not message receptivity or perceived relevance.
• Participants in a positive mood reported higher motivation to quit than those in a negative mood (P=.005).
• Positive mood enhanced motivation to quit across financial, health, quality of life, and challenges of quitting message themes.

Conclusions:

• Mood is a critical factor for future computer-tailored health communication (CTHC) interventions in smoking cessation.
• Enhancing participants' mood may increase motivation to quit when delivering CTHC messages.
• For neutral and negative moods, focusing on health and motivation-to-quit message themes may be more effective.