A randomized controlled trial of inhibitory control training for smoking cessation and reduction

Objective: The high rates of illness and mortality associated with cigarette smoking necessitate the development of novel reduction and cessation treatments. Inhibitory control training (ICT) has recently emerged as a potentially efficacious intervention to reduce the consumption of alcohol and unhealthy food. This randomized controlled trial was the first to investigate the effect of Internet-delivered ICT on cigarette consumption in a community sample of heavy smokers. Method: For the present study, 107 adult smokers (mean age = 46.15 years; 57 female) who smoked a minimum of 10 cigarettes per day and met criteria for a moderate or severe tobacco use disorder were recruited. Participants were randomly allocated to receive go/no-go training in which either smoking stimuli (intervention) or nonsmoking stimuli (control) were paired with no-go signals and were instructed to complete 1 training session per day over a 2-week period. This trial was preregistered with the Australian and New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (Trial ID: ACTRN12617000252314). Results: We found no significant differences between conditions on percentage of days abstinent or daily cigarette consumption, although there was a significant decrease in daily cigarette consumption across both conditions. Further, we found no significant moderating effects of impulsivity on the relationship between cigarette consumption and the 2 tasks. Conclusions: Although participants in both conditions reduced their daily cigarette consumption, the intervention task was no more successful than the control task was in achieving cigarette abstinence or reduction.