Cognitive Reframing of Positive Beliefs about Smoking: A Pilot Study

Abstract

Beliefs in the benefits of smoking are reported by most smokers. Such beliefs have been shown to be modifiable, and belief modification has been shown to predict smoking cessation (Petersen, Kinderman and Maguire, 1998). This study evaluates a treatment group conducted in an NHS Specialist Smoking Cessation Service which explicitly challenged beliefs about the benefits and pleasures of smoking. There were 152 participants. At 4 weeks post quit date, 110 participants had stopped smoking, (72.4%), 26 were still smoking, (17.1%) and 16 were lost to follow-up (10.5%). At the 52 week follow-up, 45 were still not smoking (29.6%), 54 were smoking (35.2%) and 53 were lost (34.9%). This compares favourably with other published data on smoking outcomes, which report quit rates ranging from 17–19% (NICE, 2002; Ferguson, Bauld, Chesterman and Judge, 2005.) Treatment was perceived positively by participants, most of whom who felt it had changed their attitudes to smoking, enhanced their motivation to quit, and increased their confidence in their ability to quit.