For years, it has been agreed that psychological interventions that include the monitoring of smoking behavior within a structured program, as well as an emphasis on motivation, improve abstinence rates. Current questions address more complex issues. Psychoeducational approaches include information about smoking and health, information about strategies for quitting and maintaining abstinence, and group discussion to further understand and implement these changes. Behavioral skill training includes behavioral prescriptions, such as monitoring smoking situations, and practicing skills in the treatment setting and in the natural environment.
Examples are rehearsal of cigarette refusal skills and relaxation practice.
Cognitive-behavioral interventions include changing thoughts about smoking and quitting smoking and related situations and emotions. Treatment programs often include a combination of these three intervention types. Matching Treatments to Diagnostic Groupings . There has been progress in matching patients to treatments. Specific populations with high smoking rates have been identified, including psychiatric patients, especially those with depressive disorders or psychosis, and patients with alcohol and other drug disorders.