Assessment of the effects of urges and negative affect on smokers' coping skills

A taped-situation test designed to elicit descriptions of how subjects would cope with circumstances that placed them at high risk for relapse to smoking was administered to 60 cigarette smokers following their participation in one of three treatment groups. Two of these groups had coping-response training incorporated into the treatment format. The negative affect and urge contents of eight scenarios were manipulated to examine the effect of these variables on coping responses. The predictive validity of this assessment was evaluated by conducting follow-up interviews for up to 1 yr following the assessment. The manipulation of negative affect and urges had an impact on cognitive and behavioral coping. The type of treatment the subjects received had no effect on any of the coping-response measures. Among the 49 subjects abstinent at the time of the coping assessment, measures of coping (especially those obtained when urges and negative affect were increased) and self-efficacy ratings were predictive of days to first relapse. The implications of the results for the assessment of coping-responses and conceptualizations of the role of coping in the relapse process are discussed.