Web-Based Smoking-Cessation Programs

Abstract

Background-Initial trials of web-based smoking-cessation programs have generally been promising. The active components of these programs, however, are not well understood. This study aimed to (1) identify active psychosocial and communication components of a web-based smokingcessation intervention and (2) examine the impact of increasing the tailoring depth on smoking cessation.

Use of Non-Assigned Interventions in a Randomized Trial of Internet and Telephone Treatment for Smoking Cessation

“…Also, it was not feasible to biochemically verify self-reported abstinence since this was a national sample recruited via the Internet. Self-reported abstinence is commonly accepted in web-based cessation trials (Leykin, Aguilera, Torres, Pérez-Stable, & Muñoz, 2012;Rabius, Pike, Wiatrek, & McAlister, 2008;Strecher et al, 2008;Wangberg, Nilsen, Antypas, & Gram, 2011;Zbikowski, Hapgood, Smucker Barnwell, & McAfee, 2008) where misreporting of abstinence is expected to be minimal (SRNT Subcommittee on Biochemical Verification, 2002).…”

Factorial Experiments

“…Factorial experiments are gaining popularity in intervention science; recent applications of factorial experiments to examine individual intervention components include Apfel et al, 6 Strecher et al, 7 Collins et al, 3 Caldwell et al, 8 and McClure et al 9 Despite this increase in use, factorial experiments remain relatively rare in preventive medicine research. Of over 600 articles in Volumes 42-45 of this journal, only one featured a factorial experiment.…”

Exploring the “Active Ingredients” of an Online Smoking Intervention: A Randomized Factorial Trial

“…Dictating content or content order based on readiness to quit may also increase treatment effectiveness by making treatment information more salient to smokers; and recently published research suggests dictating navigation through a health-focused Web site can increase exposure to the intervention content and health knowledge (Crutzen, Cyr, & de Vries, 2012), each of which could mediate behavior change. Testimonials can "transport" readers, influence their beliefs (Green & Brock, 2000), and as a result, lead to smoking behavior change (Strecher et al, 2008). Finally, periodic e-mail reminders may encourage return Web visits (Greaney et al, 2012;Schneider, van Osch, Schulz, Kremers, & de Vries, 2012), increase treatment exposure, and promote greater behavior change.…”

“…This strategy uses sequential screening, refining, and confirming experiments to ultimately build and validate an "optimized" intervention. In a prior screening experiment, we found offering smokers highly tailored "success stories" (aka, testimonials) and using a personalized message source (research study team vs. participants' health insurer), each increased smoking abstinence rates at six months among smokers ready to quit Advance Access publication April 11, 2014 nicotine & tobacco research, volume 16, number 8 (august 2014) 1129-1139 exploring the "active ingredients" of an online smoking intervention smoking and who were provided nicotine replacement therapy (Strecher et al, 2008).…”

“…We hypothesized that these prompts could encourage return visits and program exposure, thereby increasing the odds of quitting smoking and use of adjunctive treatment, but they could also be an annoyance and undermine treatment participation or behavior change. Finally, based on our own prior research demonstrating a relationship between personally tailored testimonials and smoking abstinence among smokers who were ready to stop smoking (Strecher et al, 2008), we sought to explore whether the same would be true when the sample included smokers at differing stages of readiness to quit, when pharmacotherapy was not provided, and when smoking was assessed at longer term follow-up. Findings from this study add to the still nascent literature informing the optimal design of Internet-based behavior change programs, in general, and for smoking cessation, in particular.…”