Generalized and Domain-Specific Episodic Thinking for Smoking Cessation

Conditions

• Cigarette Smoking Behavior

Eligibility Criteria

Sex

ALL

Age

21 Years - N/A

Healthy Volunteers

Not accepted

Interventions

• Episodic Future Thinking (EFT) — BEHAVIORAL
  Participants will engage in EFT for 8 weeks, three times a day. Participants will receive three daily text messages. Each prompt will link to a custom web interface that guides participants to read and vividly imagine one of their cues, chosen randomly. Visit times and durations will be recorded.
• Episodic Recent Thinking (ERT) — BEHAVIORAL
  Participants will engage in ERT for 8 weeks, three times a day. Participants will receive three daily text messages. Each prompt will link to a custom web interface that guides participants to read and vividly imagine one of their cues, chosen randomly. Visit times and durations will be recorded.
• Domain-specific episodic thinking — BEHAVIORAL
  Content of the episodic thinking intervention will experiencing the symptoms of lung cancer during a broad range of personally meaningful, otherwise positive, events (e.g., social events, celebrations, spending times with friends and family).
• Generalized episodic thinking — BEHAVIORAL
  Content of the episodic thinking intervention will include a broad range of personally meaningful, positive, events (e.g., social events, celebrations, spending times with friends and family).

Study Details

Cigarette smoking remains common, particularly in rural areas, despite ample evidence that smoking causes cancer and respiratory disease. Successful smoking cessation yields the majority of its health benefits (e.g., avoidance of lung cancer) after years of sustained behavioral change; however, people who smoke cigarettes tend to show elevated rates of delay discounting (i.e., devaluation of delayed outcomes) and a bias for immediate gratification. The overall goal of this project is to develop different versions of an episodic future thinking intervention (i.e., visualization of the future) and test their feasibility and efficacy for smoking cessation in rural and urban populations.

Key Dates

Start date

May 1, 2026

Status verified

Mar 2026

Primary completion

May 1, 2027

Completion

May 1, 2027

Study Design

Enrollment

134 participants (estimated)

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Intervention model

FACTORIAL

Primary purpose

TREATMENT

Arms

• Experimental: Generalized episodic future thinking (EFT)
  The Generalized EFT group will identify positive events that may occur at 6 future time points (1 month to 5 years). These may include a broad range of personally significant milestones (e.g., weddings, birthdays) or other events that participants are looking forward to (e.g., spending time with loved ones). Participants will also generate vivid text descriptions, or cues (transcribed in their own words), to prompt EFT in the natural environment. These cues, including emotional impacts, will be elicited using standardized questions: Who are you with? What are you doing? Where are you? How are you feeling? Participants will be prompted to engage in Generalized EFT in the natural environment.
• Experimental: Domain-specific episodic future thinking (EFT)
  The Domain-Specific EFT group will complete an identical interview as the Generalized EFT group to identify positive future events, with one exception. Following initial cue generation, participants will be provided with descriptions of lung cancer symptoms (e.g., painful breathing; extreme fatigue; coughing up blood, phlegm, or mucus) and will be asked to visualize and include details related to this experience and their emotional impact in their revised cues. Thus, cancer-related symptoms occur in the context of otherwise positive, personally significant events to further highlight the impact of the diagnosis and to be consistent with Generalized EFT. Participants will be prompted to engage in Domain-Specific EFT in the natural environment.
• Placebo Comparator: Generalized episodic recent thinking (ERT)
  The Generalized ERT interview will be identical to the one described for Generalized EFT, except participants will describe positive events they experienced in the last week. Participants will be prompted to engage in Generalized ERT in the natural environment.
• Active Comparator: Domain-specific episodic recent thinking (ERT)
  The Domain-Specific ERT interview will be identical to the one described for Domain-Specific EFT, except participants will describe positive events they experienced in the last week and will subsequently add detail as though they were experiencing symptoms of lung cancer. Participants will be prompted to engage in Domain-Specific ERT in the natural environment.

Primary Outcome Measure

Cigarettes smoked per day [ Time Frame: From Week 0 to the end of treatment at 8 weeks ]

Central Contacts

• Jeffrey Stein, PhD
  15405262124
  [email protected]

Locations (1)

Find similar trials in Roanoke, VA

Related Studies

• Effects of Tobacco Abuse Liability-dependent Taxes in the ETM
  Not Yet Recruiting · Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University · Roanoke, Virginia
• Effect of Flavored on!® Nicotine Pouch Products on Smoking Behaviors: a SMART Study
  Recruiting · Altria Client Services LLC · Raleigh, North Carolina
• Catalyzing Cigarette Smoking Cessation Through Harm Reduction Sampling Among People Unmotivated to Quit
  Recruiting · Abramson Cancer Center at Penn Medicine · Philadelphia, Pennsylvania