We believe that reframing the conversation to creating a culture around health rather than focusing on discrete actions or activities will capture national consciousness and enable us to make new progress as a nation. Thus, in 2014, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) announced a new vision to help build a "Culture of Health" to…

Alcohol abuse is the single greatest public health hazard on American college and university campuses, but the culture of abusive alcohol consumption continues to be highly resistant to change. The author argues that secondhand smoke campaigns can be used as models to change the culture of alcohol abuse on campus. He proposes the implementation of…

Subjects (N=970) in five stages of smoking cessation completed test measuring 10 change processes: consciousness raising, dramatic relief, self-liberation, social liberation, counterconditioning, stimulus control, self-reevaluation, environmental reevaluation, reinforcement management, and helping relationship. Assessed 770 subjects six months…

Applied an integrative model of change to the study of subjects (N=872) changing their smoking habits on their own. The subjects represented five stages of change: (1) precontemplation; (2) contemplation; (3) action; (4) maintenance; and (5) relapse. Relapsers' responses were a combination of contemplation and action. (JAC)

Reviews the efficacy of maintenance enhancement procedures to prevent relapse in smoking cessation, weight control, and exercise programs. Presents models of maintenance enhancement, reviews studies that have used relapse prevention strategies, and discusses ways of incorporating relapse prevention techniques into health promotion programs.…

The author examines the traditional emphasis of health educators in preventive approaches to smoking behavior and suggests (through a brief literature review) specific techniques that may be useful in aiding those who would stop smoking. (MJB)

In a study of aversive control of smoking behavior, subjects were randomly assigned to rapid smoking, excessive smoking, or control conditions. Overall, there was a statistically reliable treatment effect, according to measures of percentage reductions in smoking and subjects maintaining total abstinence. However, this treatment effect had…

Determines whether subliminal perception can be used as a means for altering cigarette smoking behavior. Smoking behavior was not altered through subliminal perception as carried out in this study. There was evidence that smoking behavior was altered, but it was an unpredicted change. Some subjects decreased smoking patterns. (Author)

Studied the effectiveness of hypnosis in the treatment of cigarette habituation. Volunteers (N=87) were randomly assigned to hypnosis, relaxation, or waiting list control groups. Hypnosis was found to be superior to relaxation only for subjects high in hypnotic susceptibility. Those who quit smoking increased food consumption. (Author/JAC)

Cigarette smoking has been a behavioral enigma. Single treatment techniques, when successful, are usually plagued by high recidivism rates and "practical" insignificance. Two recent developments, rapid smoking and comprehensive behavioral programming, hold promise for the eventual behavioral control of smoking. This study describes one such…

Three approaches: hypnosis, counseling, and hypnosis plus counseling were used to help smokers stop smoking. Only the third approach produced a fairly high success rate. (SE)

Three behavioral techniques--relaxation, satiation, and combined relaxation/satiation--were compared to determine relative effectiveness in reducing cigarette smoking behavior in 53 volunteer smokers. Results indicate all three approaches were effective initially but only combined relaxation/satiation effectively maintained a significant reduction…

The role of environmental stimuli in the control of cigarette smoking has been the object of theoretical speculation, but there have been few experimental demonstrations of the control exerted over smoking by environmental events. Self-report data on smoking in the natural environment were compared to observations made of smoking among subjects…

This paper presents a review of relevant literature on treatment approaches for the modification of smoking behavior, followed by an outline of an approach developed by the author to decrease his own rate of cigarette smoking. Studies are reviewed which have used various treatment methods: use of electric shock, satiation and/or use of cigarette…

The efforts of smoking cessation programs have met with various degrees of success and fresh approaches to the problem are needed. An innovative technique that interrupts the psychogenic drives of smokers was employed to determine the effect of noxious subliminal suggestion on smoking attitudes and behavior. Adult smokers (N=60) were shown…