Exercise effects on withdrawal and mood among women attempting smoking cessation

doi:10.1016/S0306-4603(98)00088-4

Addictive Behaviors

Volume 24, Issue 3, May–June 1999, Pages 399-410

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0306-4603(98)00088-4 Get rights and content

Abstract

This study investigated both acute and longer term (“chronic”) effects of vigorous exercise training on affect, nicotine withdrawal, and cigarette craving among women enrolled in a smoking cessation research study. All subjects participated in a 12-week cognitive behavioral smoking cessation program and were randomly assigned to attend three sessions per week of either a vigorous exercise program or contact control. Measures of positive and negative affect, cigarette craving, and nicotine withdrawal were administered immediately before, and again immediately after the final exercise or contact session each week of the program. Study I enrolled 24 women who had been assigned to the exercise condition. Significant reductions in negative affect, nicotine withdrawal and cigarette craving were observed following exercise most weeks of the program. No significant changes in positive affect were observed. In Study II this protocol was repeated among 62 women (44 exercise, 18 contact control) in two consecutive cohorts of the larger study. Significant reduction were observed in negative affect, nicotine withdrawal and cigarette craving during most weeks of the program among exercise subjects but not contact condition subjects. No chronic (baseline to posttreatment) changes in positive or negative affect, cigarette craving or withdrawal symptoms were observed in either study. Vigorous exercise appears to produce acute improvements in withdrawal symptoms, cigarette craving, and negative affect among sedentary women attempting to quit smoking.

Section snippets

Subject recruitment

Subjects for both studies were women participating in three consecutive cohorts of a larger smoking cessation study. As part of the larger study (“Commit To Quit”; Marcus, Albrecht, Parisi, & Abrams, 1997), all subjects were recruited through newspaper advertisements and were screened for eligibility via telephone interview. To be eligible, subjects needed to be healthy, sedentary women (≥18 years) who had regularly smoked 10 or more cigarettes per day for at least 3 years. Sedentary was

Procedure

Subjects (n = 24) who were enrolled in a single cohort of the larger smoking cessation study and had been assigned to the exercise condition, completed the PANAS, and ESR questionnaires immediately prior to, and again immediately following the third exercise session each week for 11 weeks. These assessments were not taken during the 12th week of the program because the exercise session was not held on the final evening so that subjects could complete questionnaires required by the larger study.

Subjects

At program entry, the women enrolled in Study I were on average 38.3 years old (±10.5), had smoked for 22.5 years (±8.5), and smoked 19.7 (±6.3) cigarettes per day. Most study participants were White (92%), and reported median household incomes between 30 and 39 thousand/year. These and other baseline data are presented in Table 1.

Verification of exercise training

Estimated VO₂ peak was (1754 ml/kg/min) at the start of the study. By the end of the study, however, individuals in this exercise group demonstrated a 5.4% increase

Procedure

To examine the relative specificity of the changes in affect, nicotine withdrawal and cigarette craving observed in Study I, a control group comparison was needed. Therefore, we conducted a second study, replicating the procedures and methods utilized in Study I with a second exercise group (n = 44) and utilizing a cohort of subjects assigned to the contact-control condition (n = 18). The procedures and measures used in Study II were identical to those described for Study I above.

Statistical analyses

All

Subjects

Sixty-two women (mean age = 38.9) who smoked an average of 22.7 (±9.4) cigarettes per day for 21.5 (±8.0) years participated in this study. Subjects were recruited, screened for eligibility, and enrolled in the larger smoking cessation study (Marcus et al., 1997) following the procedures described above. Subjects had been randomly assigned at baseline to receive cognitive-behavioral smoking cessation treatment and either a supplemental exercise program (n = 44) or contact-control (n = 18)

Discussion

Results of the current studies demonstrate that vigorous aerobic exercise reduces negative affect, craving for cigarettes, and symptoms of nicotine withdrawal among women attempting to quit smoking. These studies utilize a randomized clinical trial format together with a strong contact-control condition. Because the contact condition used in the current study is an active treatment, it provides a direct comparison of the effects of exercise on symptoms associated with smoking cessation. The

Acknowledgements

We thank Regina Traficante, Janice Tripolone, and Kalene Hafey for their invaluable assistance to this project. This project was supported in part by NIH Grant Nos. R29CA59660 and K07CA01757 to Dr. Marcus, and a supplement to R29CA59660 from the Office of Research on Women’s Health.

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Exercise effects on withdrawal and mood among women attempting smoking cessation

Abstract

Section snippets

Subject recruitment

Procedure

Subjects

Verification of exercise training

Procedure

Statistical analyses

Subjects

Discussion

Acknowledgements

Journal of Substance Abuse

American Journal of Preventive Medicine

Journal of Psychosomatic Research

Comprehensive Psychiatry

Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation

Behavior Therapy

Addictive Behaviors

Addictive Behaviors

Preventive Medicine

Addictive Behaviors

Physiology and Behavior

Psychosocial stress and coping in smokers who relapse or quit

Health Psychology

Depression and the dynamics of smokingA national perspective

Journal of the American Medical Association

Mood alteration with yoga and swimmingAerobic exercise may not be necessary

Perceptual and Motor Skills

The prevalence and distribution of major depression in a national community sampleThe national comorbidity survey

American Journal of Psychiatry

Mood, major depression, and fluoxetine response in cigarette smokers

American Journal of Psychiatry

Running versus weight-lifting in the treatment of depression

Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology

The exercise-induced feeling inventoryDevelopment and initial validation

Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology

Smoking, smoking cessation, and major depression

Journal of the American Medical Association

Heavy smokers, smoking cessation, and clonidineResults of a double-blind, randomized trial

Journal of the American Medical Association