Am J Psychiatry 1993; 150:1090-1097
Copyright © 1993 by American Psychiatric Association
Predictors of smoking abstinence following a single-session restructuring intervention with self-hypnosis
D Spiegel, EJ Frischholz, JL Fleiss and H Spiegel
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, CA 94305.
OBJECTIVE: This study examined the relation of smoking and medical history,
social support, and hypnotizability to outcome of a smoking cessation
program. METHOD: A consecutive series of 226 smokers referred for the
smoking cessation program were treated with a single-session habit
restructuring intervention involving self-hypnosis. They were then followed
up for 2 years. Total abstinence from smoking after the intervention was
the criterion for successful outcome. RESULTS: Fifty- two percent of the
study group achieved complete smoking abstinence 1 week after the
intervention; 23% maintained their abstinence for 2 years. Hypnotizability
and having been previously able to quit smoking for at least a month
significantly predicted the initiation of abstinence. Hypnotizability and
living with a significant other person predicted 2-year maintenance of
treatment response. CONCLUSIONS: These results, while modest, are superior
to those of spontaneous efforts to stop smoking. Furthermore, they suggest
that it is possible to predict which patients are most likely and which are
least likely to respond to such brief smoking cessation interventions.
