Interventions to disrupt memory reconsolidation have held promise for the treatment of stress- and anxiety-related disorders. In the present study, the investigators will examine whether an intervention based on these principles, called memory updating, could be adapted for reward-seeking behaviors. To test this, non-treatment seeking tobacco smokers will be exposed to smoking cues and/or stress, two stimuli known to trigger smoking. It is predicted that exposure to a stress task will enhance the cues' motivational salience and yield greater susceptibility to the memory updating procedure. As an add-on, the investigators will examine COVID-associated changes in substance use and whether participants in the memory updating groups might be more resilient to these effects. It is predicted that the changes in substance use will depend on whether the substances are used primarily in social settings.
Non-treatment seeking cigarette dependent smokers will be randomized to one of four testing conditions: 1) a non-stressful task followed by neutral cues, 2) the non-stressful task followed by smoking cues, 3) a stressful task followed by neutral cues, or 4) the stressful task followed by smoking cues. Ten minutes after the intervention, participants will undergo a 60-minute extinction procedure consisting of smoking-related videos, images and smoking paraphernalia. Cue reactivity test sessions will take place 24 hours, 2 weeks and 6 weeks following the intervention. COVID-associated changes in substance use will be quantified over three telephone interviews: one at the end of March / beginning of April 2020 (at the start of the pandemic), one at the end of April / beginning of May, and a final one which will be instituted if feasible once the infection rates and social distancing policies have decreased.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
SINGLE
Enrollment
76
Exposure to a psychosocial stressor
Exposure to a control task (no stress)
Exposure to a smoking-related task
Exposure to neutral cues
McGill University
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Change in cigarettes smoked per day from the pre-intervention baseline to test sessions 2 and 3 given two and six weeks post-intervention
A journal is given to participants to record their cigarette use behaviour every day for a month and a half
Time frame: At the end of test session 1 (24 hours post-intervention), participants will receive a journal to record their daily smoking behaviour. They are asked to keep this journal until test session 3 (6 weeks post-intervention).
Change in smoking cue-induced cigarette cravings from the pre-intervention baseline to test session 2
Participants will be asked to complete craving and urge to smoke questionnaires at several time points throughout the study sessions
Time frame: Multiple times points during the baseline, intervention and test sessions at 24 hours, 2 weeks and 6 weeks post-intervention.
Change in smoking cue-induced cigarette cravings from the pre-intervention baseline to test session 3
Participants will be asked to complete craving and urge to smoke questionnaires at several time points throughout the study sessions
Time frame: Multiple times points during the baseline, intervention and test sessions at 24 hours, 2 weeks and 6 weeks post-intervention.
Change in smoking cue-induced heart rate responses from the pre-intervention baseline to test session 2
Participants' heart rate will be measured through the use of a polar belt at several time points during the study sessions
Time frame: Multiple time points during the baseline, intervention and test sessions at 24 hours, 2 weeks and 6 weeks post-intervention
Change in smoking cue-induced heart rate responses from the pre-intervention baseline to test session 3
Participants' heart rate will be measured through the use of a polar belt at several time points during the study sessions
Time frame: Multiple time points during the baseline, intervention and test sessions at 24 hours, 2 weeks and 6 weeks post-intervention
Change in smoking cue-induced skin conductance responses from the pre-intervention baseline to test session 2
Participants' skin conductance will be measured through the use of electrodes on their index and middle fingers at several time points during the study sessions
Time frame: Multiple time points during the baseline, intervention and test sessions at 24 hours, 2 weeks and 6 weeks post-intervention
Change in smoking cue-induced skin conductance responses from the pre-intervention baseline to test session 3
Participants' skin conductance will be measured through the use of electrodes on their index and middle fingers at several time points during the study sessions
Time frame: Multiple time points during the baseline, intervention and test sessions at 24 hours, 2 weeks and 6 weeks post-intervention
Change in tobacco and other substance use patterns from the pre-COVID-19 baseline to during COVID-19
Participants will be asked to report the quantity of cigarettes and/or other substances they have consumed recently
Time frame: Multiple time points at baseline (before the pandemic), at the start of the pandemic, and during the pandemic
Change in tobacco and other substance use patterns from the pre-COVID-19 baseline to post-COVID-19
Participants will be asked to report the quantity of cigarettes and/or other substances they have consumed recently
Time frame: At baseline (before the pandemic) and through study completion, an average of 1 year
Change in tobacco and other substance use patterns during the COVID-19 pandemic to post-COVID-19
Participants will be asked to report the quantity of cigarettes and/or other substances they have consumed recently
Time frame: Multiple time points during the pandemic and through study completion, an average of 1 year
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