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What smokers say about stopping and relapsing
Eleni Vangeli, Research Psychologist, Health Behaviour Research Centre, University College London, UK
Abstract
NHS stop smoking treatments are effective in the short-term, but relapse rates are high (about 70%). Interventions designed to prevent relapse have demonstrated little or no success as seen in a recent Cochrane Review. Before effective interventions can be designed we need to develop our understanding of the process.Methods: Two interview studies and a brief questionnaire study exploring the causes and processes of stopping smoking and of relapse were conducted with people who had quit smoking with the NHS South East Essex Stop Smoking Service. The findings presented will focus on the interview studies exploring the experiences of ten long-term quitters and ten relapsed smokers. The semi-structured interviews were guided by PRIME theory and analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Findings: Long-term quitters held a strong ‘non-smoker’ identity but retained a residual appreciation that smoking conferred benefits. Taking on the ‘non-smoker’ identity involved some adaptation of other identities which had become connected with smoking (e.g. I am calm, I am happy-go-lucky, I am rebellious, I am not worth saving). Relapse appeared to be precipitated by conflict between continued attachment to these identities and being a non-smoker. Discussion: It may be unnecessary to aim for a total ‘non-smoker’ identity to facilitate long-term abstinence and identity conflict may be an important source of relapse.
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About the presenter
Eleni Vangeli graduated with a BSc (Hons) in Psychology and Health Science in 2000, and then an MSc in Health Psychology in 2002 from Bristol U.W.E. She then went on to work as a Research Psychologist at Hillingdon Hospital looking at providing psychological support for women with Gynaecological Cancer. In 2004, Eleni joined the tobacco research team at UCL, working on a clinical trial (ZORN trial) comparing the efficacy of Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) and Buproprion (Zyban). Since 2006 Eleni has been investigating the social and psychological reasons for relapse back to smoking for her D(Psych) thesis in Health Psychology. She has also been analysing data from the Smoking Toolkit Study (a study involving monthly household surveys of national samples in England to obtain ongoing data for key performance indicators relating to smoking and cessation).
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