Mindfulness-Based Interventions for the Treatment of Smoking: A Systematic Literature Review

Abstract

Mindfulness appears to induce positive effects on mental health, which might contribute to the maintenance of tobacco abstinence. Despite the promising results regarding the responses of tobacco smokers to mindfulness-based interventions, additional well-designed clinical studies are needed.

Mindfulness and Cardiovascular Disease Risk: State of the Evidence, Plausible Mechanisms, and Theoretical Framework

“…A small number of RCTs evaluated efficacy of mindfulness training for smoking cessation [8]. For example, mindfulness training for smoking cessation was significantly more efficacious than the American Lung Association’s Freedom From Smoking for abstinence at a 4-month follow-up (31 vs 5 % abstinence, respectively) [32].…”

“…Systematic reviews and meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials suggest protective effects of mindfulness practices on depression relapse and non-clinical anxiety symptoms [1••, 3, 4]. Research about the impacts of mindfulness on cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk is in a much more nascent phase, but recent systematic reviews and meta-analyses suggest possible benefits for obesity, blood pressure, and smoking [5, 6, 7•, 8]. CVD remains the primary cause of mortality worldwide [9].…”

Mindfulness Meditation for the Treatment of Tobacco Use: A Systematic Review

“…A more recent systematic review found that mindfulness-based interventions yielded mixed results (de Souza et al, 2015). Outcomes reported included smoking cessation, number of cigarettes smoked, moderation of the strength of the relationship between craving and smoking, and the development of coping strategies to deal with triggers to smoke.…”

“…That recent review included 13 articles on RCTs; our systematic review included six of these (Bowen and Marlatt, 2009;Brewer et al, 2011;Davis, Mills, et al, 2013;Davis, Goldberg, et al, 2014a;Rogojanski, Vettese, and Antony, 2011a;Singh et al, 2014). Another RCT included in the de Souza et al (2015) review was an unpublished manuscript by Davis and colleagues; we believe this was later published as Davis, Manley, et al (2014b), which we also included. An unpublished abstract by Schuman-Olivier was excluded as a secondary analysis of Brewer et al (2011).…”

Mindfulness Meditation for Chronic Pain: A Systematic Review

“…It is characterized by paying attention to the present moment with openness, curiosity, and acceptance (Kabat-Zinn, Lipworth, and Burney, 1985). Clinical uses of mindfulness include applications in substance abuse (Chiesa and Serretti, 2014), tobacco cessation (de Souza et al, 2015), stress reduction (Goyal et al, 2014), and treatment of chronic pain (Kozasa et al, 2012;Cramer et al, 2012;Reiner, Tibi, and Lipsitz, 2013). The most commonly used mindfulness meditation interventions are described in Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT)…”