Pre-Test of For the Future Self and Smoking Cessation

Summary

The goal of this experimental research is to increase adherence to a smoking cessation patch among Pittsburgh residents who are trying to quit smoking. The literature on smoking cessation shows that there is a significant problem with adherence when using a transdermal patch as a nicotine replacement treatment. Less than half of patients use the patch as prescribed and adherence suffers a rapid decline during the first six weeks of treatment (Waldroup, Gifford, \& Kalra, 2006). Recent work in psychology demonstrates that being more connected to our "future selves" enables better long-term decision making, in part by making future rewards more salient (and making present rewards less so). To test whether a future selves intervention might facilitate patch adherence in a smoking cessation program, investigators will recruit participants planning to begin using nicotine patches in local smoking cessation programs, and randomly assign them to one of three conditions: 1) "discontinued-smoker" age-progressed future self virtual reality images vs. 2) "discontinued-smoker" + "continued smoking" age-progressed future self virtual reality images vs. 3) control - current self virtual reality images.

Conditions

• Adherence, Medication

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Future Self Virtual Reality Image - Normal Aging

Using software developed for this purpose, a current photograph of the subject will be aged and presented through a visual medium. The image (face) will be rendered as a 3D virtual reality avatar.

BEHAVIORAL

Future Self Virtual Reality Image - Smoking Consequences Aging

Using software developed for this purpose, a current photograph of the participant will be aged showing the results of continued smoking and presented through a visual medium. The image (face) will be rendered as a 3D virtual reality avatar.

BEHAVIORAL

Current Self Virtual Reality Image

Using software developed for this purpose, a current photograph of the participant will be rendered as a 3D virtual reality avatar.

BEHAVIORAL

Letter - 20 years

Participants will write a 200-300 word letter to the self they see in that image in 20 years' time. The instructions will read: "Think about who you will be in 20 years from now, and write about the person you are now. What things are important and dear to you, and how do you see your life?"

BEHAVIORAL

Letter - 3 months

Participants will write a 200-300 word letter to the self they see in that image. The instructions will read: "Think about who you will be in 3 months from now, and write about the person you are now. What things are important and dear to you, and how do you see your life?"

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Allegheny Singer Research Institute (also known as Allegheny Health Network Research Institute)

  collaborator OTHER

• Carnegie Mellon University

  lead OTHER

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

SINGLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Max Age

45 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2017-10-31

Primary Completion

2017-12-31

Completion

2017-12-31