Smoking prevalence is one of the major contributors to the poorer physical health and reduced life-expectancy in individuals with depression and anxiety. Integrated interventions targeting smoking and depression/anxiety have been found to be more effective than those targeting smoking cessation alone. This qualitative study aimed to investigate participants’ subjective experiences of the mechanisms underlying change in smoking behaviour following an integrated intervention for smoking cessation and depression/anxiety. Thematic analysis identified five themes : (1) acquiring an increased awareness of smoking patterns, (2) developing individualised strategies, (3) therapist style as "supportive but not lecture-y” (4) importance of regular sessions, and (5) having the opportunity to access intervention at “the right time ”. These findings further our understanding of the active ingredients of behaviour change in this integrated intervention and identifies possible mechanisms of change which could be investigated quantitatively in future research/
Doctorate in Clinical Psychology: Main Research portfolio: 1) Do interventions principally targeting excessive alcohol use in young people improve depression symptoms?: a systematic review and meta-analysis; 2) Moving on after Trauma Group for young refugees and asylum-seekers: service-user experiences; 3) Service-user experiences of an integrated psychological intervention for depression or anxiety and tobacco smoking in IAPT: mechanisms of change.
Fredman Stein, K. (Author). 15 Sept 2021
Student thesis: Doctoral Thesis › Doctor of Clinical Psychology (DClinPsy)