Importance of the field: Patients with a psychiatric diagnosis have a higher prevalence of smoking compared to the general population. Varenicline is a first-line pharmacotherapy option to assist in smoking cessation. Clinical trials during drug development excluded patients with active psychiatric illnesses leaving the risks associated with varenicline use in this patient population unknown. Areas […]
Abstract Topics: Smoking Cessation
Smoking expectancies and intention to quit in smokers with schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder and non-psychiatric controls.
Cigarette smoking expectancies are systematically related to intention to quit smoking in adult smokers without psychiatric illness, but little is known about these relationships in smokers with serious mental illness. In this study, we compared positive and negative smoking expectancies, and examined relationships between expectancies and intention to quit smoking, in smokers with schizophrenia (n=46), […]
A Wellness Approach to Addressing Tobacco in Mental Health Settings: Learning About Healthy Living
OBJECTIVE: Treatments are needed for smokers with serious mental illness (SMI) who are not ready to quit. METHODS: This article describes a 20-session group wellness treatment (Learning About Healthy Living [LAHL]) designed to provide information on tobacco use and other issues to enhance healthy living—nutrition, physical activity, and stress management. Goals are to increase awareness […]
Silver and Bronze Achievement Awards 2009 APA Achievement Awards Silver Award: CHOICES, UMDNJ–Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick, New Jersey—Peer Support to Promote Smoking Cessation
There is evidence that the mentally ill population has less access to tobacco treatment services than the general population. One model for systems change is to target consumers directly to boost the demand for tobacco cessation services. One way of doing so is to involve persons with mental illness in talking with peers with mental […]
Reasons for quitting smoking prior to a self-quit attempt among smokers with and without posttraumatic stress disorder or other anxiety/mood psychopathology.
The present investigation examined intrinsic and extrinsic reasons for quitting among daily cigarette smokers with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as compared to clinical daily smokers with other anxiety and mood disorders (AM) and daily smokers with no current Axis I psychopathology (C) prior to a self-guided quit attempt. It was hypothesized that (1) the PTSD […]
Treatment of tobacco dependence in mental health and addictive disorders.
People with mental health and addictive (MHA) disorders smoke at high rates and require tobacco treatment as a part of their comprehensive psychiatric care. Psychiatric care providers often do not address tobacco use among people with mental illness, possibly owing to the belief that their patients will not be able to quit successfully or that […]
Tobacco use among individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities: a brief review.
Tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of death in the United States. Although few tobacco control efforts target individuals with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities, this population may be especially vulnerable to the deleterious effects of tobacco use and dependence. Individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities suffer from the health, financial, and stigmatizing effects of […]
What do persons with mental illnesses need to quit smoking? Mental health consumer and provider perspectives.
OBJECTIVES: Forty-one percent (41%) of persons in the U.S. who reported having recent mental illnesses also smoke cigarettes. Tobacco use among this population is associated with up to 25 less years of life and excess medical comorbidity compared to the general population. While research demonstrates that tobacco interventions can be effective for persons with mental […]
Community mental healthcare providers’ attitudes and practices related to smoking cessation interventions for people living with severe mental illness.
OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to describe mental healthcare providers’ attitudes about tobacco use, their personal smoking status, their confidence in offering smoking cessation support to clients living with severe mental illness, and the extent to which they incorporated smoking cessation interventions into their practice. The study also aimed to determine whether the providers’ attitudes, smoking […]
Treatment of smokers with co-occurring disorders: emphasis on integration in mental health and addiction treatment settings.
This article reviews the research on the treatment of cigarette smoking in individuals who have comorbid mental illnesses or non-nicotinic addictions. The prevalence of smoking in mentally ill and substance-abusing populations is presented, as well as reasons for this high prevalence. The historical role of cigarettes and tobacco in mental illness and addiction is reviewed […]