Behavioral Activation Mobile App to Motivate Smokers to Quit: Feasibility and Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial

Behavioral activation (BA) is an evidence-based treatment for depression that fosters engagement in values-based activities to increase access to positive reinforcement. Depressed mood has been shown to hinder smoking cessation.

This study determined the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of a mobile app to motivate smokers to quit by using BA and integrating motivational messages to quit smoking.

Adult smokers (N=56; mean age 34.5, SD 9.52 years) who were not ready to quit smoking within 30 days were recruited from advertisements and randomized to either 8 weeks of the BA app (set 2 values-based activities per week+motivational messages+feedback on changes in smoking, mood, and values-based activities) or the control group (no app; received resources for quitting smoking). All participants completed the baseline and end-of-treatment web-based questionnaires. Controls also completed weekly web-based assessments, and BA app participants completed assessments through the app.

There were no dropouts and only 2 participants in each condition did not complete the end-of-treatment questionnaire. The results demonstrated that it is feasible to recruit smokers who are unmotivated to quit into a smoking cessation induction trial: 86% (57/66) of eligible participants were randomized (BA app: n=27; control: n=29). Participants reported high levels of satisfaction: 80% (20/25) of participants said they would recommend the BA app, there were moderate-to-high scores on the Mobile App Rating Scale, and 88% (22/25) of participants rated the app 3 stars or higher (out of 5). There were high levels of BA app engagement: 96% (26/27) of participants planned activities, and 67% (18/27) of participants planned 7 or more activities. High engagement was found even among those who were at the highest risk for continued smoking (low motivation to quit, low confidence to quit, and high negative affect). The results provided support for the hypothesized relationships between BA constructs: greater pleasant activity completion was associated with greater positive affect (b=0.37, SE 0.21; 95% CI -0.05 to 0.79; P=.08), and greater positive affect tended to predict fewer cigarettes smoked the next day (b=-0.19, SE 0.10; 95% CI -0.39 to 0.01; P=.06). Additionally, a greater number of activities planned was associated with lower negative affect (b=-0.26, SE 0.15; 95% CI -0.55 to 0.04; P=.09). Overall, 16% (4/25) of BA app participants set a quit date versus 4% (1/27) among controls, and there were promising (but not significant) trends for motivation and confidence to quit.

The findings suggest that a mobile app intervention can be made appealing to smokers who are unmotivated to quit by focusing on aspects most important to them, such as mood management. This theory-based intervention has shown some initial support for the underlying theoretical constructs, and further efficacy testing is warranted in a fully powered trial.