Elsevier

Addictive Behaviors

Volume 26, Issue 4, July–August 2001, Pages 509-515
Addictive Behaviors

The relationship between thought suppression and smoking cessation

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0306-4603(00)00140-4Get rights and content

Abstract

Intrusive thoughts (e.g., anxiety, depression, substance use) are among the most salient symptoms of clinical problems. Therefore, methods of thought suppression have received considerable attention. However, some studies have found that attempts to suppress thoughts precipitate an increase in thoughts. In the case of substance abuse, such thoughts could serve as cues for further use. This study examined the association between thought suppression and quitting smoking in a sample of current and ex-smokers. Using the White Bear Suppression Inventory (WBSI), scores were obtained for participants' level of thought suppression. Based on the idea that a greater tendency to suppress thoughts would make quitting smoking more difficult, it was hypothesized that unsuccessful quitters would have higher WBSI scores than smokers who had successfully quit. It was found that mean scores on the WBSI were significantly higher (P<.05) for smokers than ex-smokers. These findings suggest that a tendency toward thought suppression may increase the likelihood that attempts to quit smoking will be unsuccessful.

Section snippets

Participants

Participants age 18 and older were recruited at the Fort Lauderdale (Florida) Museum of Science and Discovery in response to a poster stating “Current and ex-smokers, be a part of science, participate in a study now. A free self-help smoking cessation manual is available for all participants.” Participants were asked to read and sign a consent form that informed them that the study would take approximately 15 minutes and that their answers would be confidential. All participants who requested a

Results

Table 1 shows descriptive statistics and scores on the WBSI, the FTND, and the CO test for the two groups. A planned comparison was performed on WBSI scores using an independent samples t test. This analysis revealed a significant difference between the two groups [t(48)=1.90; P<.05, one-tailed] with the difference in the hypothesized direction. Current smokers who had unsuccessfully attempted to quit (M=46.28) scored significantly higher than ex-smokers (M=40.36) on the WBSI. As shown in Table

Discussion

The present study examined whether there is an association between the general tendency to suppress thoughts and smoking cessation, by comparing the WBSI scores of ex-smokers with scores of current smokers who had unsuccessfully attempted to quit. As predicted, current smokers had significantly higher WBSI scores than ex-smokers. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that a general tendency to suppress thoughts may produce intrusive thoughts that interfere with smoking cessation.

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Acknowledgements

Special thanks are extended to Ms. Betsy Hennings and the staff of the Fort Lauderdale Museum of Discovery and Science for allowing us to use their facilities for this study. We would also like to thank Dr. Edward Simco for help in data analyses.

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    Portions of this paper were presented at the Association for Advancement of Behavior Therapy Annual Convention, Toronto, Canada, 1999.

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