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Open Access Personal Network Changes among Smoking Relapse Prevention Intervention Participants

Objectives: Tobacco use remains a leading cause of preventable death in the United States, and relapse rates among those who quit smoking are alarmingly high. Personal networks (PNs) substantially influence smoking and quitting behaviors but have not been incorporated into relapse prevention approaches. Thus, we carried out a pilot study employing PNs in relapse prevention and measured changes in participants′ PNs. Methods: This pilot study was a single-group pre-post intervention where participants received Helpers Stay Quit (HSQ), a behavioral relapse prevention intervention we designed to instruct persons who recently quit smoking to deliver a “helping conversation” (HC) to encourage others to quit smoking. Results: The majority of the 64 participants abstained from smoking (86%) and had HCs (89%). Those who abstained from smoking throughout the study significantly increased the number of non-family members and individuals who smoke in their networks at follow-up, which increased their opportunities for carrying out a HC. HC recruits reported cessation-related behavior changes after receiving an HC. Conclusions: This is promising evidence of the potential of HSQ to facilitate cessation in the network of those who recently quit smoking, which may benefit their ability to stay quit.

Keywords: BEHAVIORAL INTERVENTION; LONGITUDINAL RESEARCH; MIXED-METHODS RESEARCH; PERSONAL NETWORKS; SMOKING CESSATION; TOBACCO/NICOTINE

Document Type: Research Article

Affiliations: 1: Department of Anthropology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 2: Department of Family Medicine, University of Colorado, Aurora, CO 3: Department of Anthropology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 4: Department of Family and Community Medicine and Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, Clinical Translational Sciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 5: College of Nursing, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL

Publication date: November 1, 2023

This article was made available online on November 11, 2023 as a Fast Track article with title: "Personal Network Changes among Smoking Relapse Prevention Intervention Participants".

More about this publication?
  • The American Journal of Health Behavior seeks to improve the quality of life through multidisciplinary health efforts in fostering a better understanding of the multidimensional nature of both individuals and social systems as they relate to health behaviors.

    The Journal aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of the impact of personal attributes, personality characteristics, behavior patterns, social structure, and processes on health maintenance, health restoration, and health improvement; to disseminate knowledge of holistic, multidisciplinary approaches to designing and implementing effective health programs; and to showcase health behavior analysis skills that have been proven to affect health improvement and recovery.

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