To the best of our knowledge, this study will be the first to 1) examine changes in risk perceptions over time in the natural environment, and 2) to evaluate potential mechanisms underlying changes in risk perceptions using palmtop computer-administered EMA procedures and two implicit cognition tasks. Participants will be community smokers (N=200) recruited from the greater Houston area and will be tracked from one week prior to their quit date through three weeks after their quit date using state-of-the-science ecological momentary assessment (EMA) procedures (Stone & Shiffman, 1994). All participants will receive smoking cessation treatment consisting of nicotine patch therapy, minimal contact smoking cessation counseling, and self-help materials. Smoking-relevant health risk perceptions will be assessed using behavioral/psychological assessment technologies - EMA and "implicit" cognition psychological measures – as well as computer-administered questionnaires. The specific aims are to:
1. Compare real-time changes in smoking-relevant risk perceptions over time among smokers who successfully abstain from smoking and those who relapse during a minimal contact cessation intervention.
2. Examine the relationship between contextual factors including affective state, craving, smoking, and levels of perceived smoking-relevant risk over time utilizing real-time assessments.
3. Examine the relationship between risk perceptions assessed in the natural environment over time, a standard questionnaire measure of risk perception, and implicit associations in memory between smoking, disease, and fear using implicit cognition task data, and to compare the relative strength of these associations among abstainers and relapsers. |