A Pilot Study on Approach Bias Modification in Smoking Cessation: Activating Personalized Alternative Activities for Smoking in the Context of Increased Craving

Background The act of smoking has been associated with the automatic activation of approach biases towards smoking-related stimuli. However, previous research has produced mixed findings when smokers are trained to avoid such smoking-related stimuli through the application of Approach Bias Modification (ApBM). As such, this study aimed to test an improved ApBM (ApBM +), where smokers were trained to approach personalized alternative activities for smoking in the context of increased craving, in addition to training smoking-avoidance responses. Methods Sixty-seven daily smokers motivated to quit ( M age = 29.27, 58.2% female) were randomly assigned to seven sessions of either ApBM + ( n = 26), standard-ApBM ( n = 19), or sham-ApBM ( n = 22), after a brief motivational smoking intervention. Primary outcomes of approach biases for smoking and for alternative activities and secondary outcomes of smoking-related behaviors were assessed at pre-test, post-test, and 1-month follow-up. Results Overall, no group differences by condition were demonstrated in changing approach biases or smoking-related behaviors at post-test and 1-month follow-up. A trend level indication for differences in changes of smoking-approach biases between sham-ApBM and ApBM + for relatively heavy smokers was found at post-test. This was primarily driven by a significant increase in smoking-approach biases within the sham-ApBM condition and a trend decrease in smoking-approach biases within the ApBM + condition. Conclusions Our findings did not provide support for the current ApBM + concerning improved effects across the whole sample. Diverging training effects on approach biases for smoking in relatively heavy smokers warrants further research, for which we provide some suggestions.