Search

Smoking is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States and imposes a substantial economic cost. Despite the well-established potential harm, relapse rates remain high during quit attempts. In the realm of applied behavior analysis, functional assessment has long been recognized as a reliable method to increase effectiveness of treatments for a variety of problem behaviors. Functional assessment may aid in designating targeted treatment for smokers based on the maintaining function(s) of the behavior. The current study (N= 414) sought to assess the reliability and validity of the Functional Assessment of Smoking for Treatment Recommendations (FASTR) and provide preliminary evidence towards a hypothesized factor structure. The full FASTR included five subscales derived from the field of functional behavior assessment: 1) Automatic Positive Reinforcement, 2) Social Positive Reinforcement, 3) Automatic Negative Reinforcement, 4) Social Negative Reinforcement, and 5) Antecedent Stimuli. The full battery of subscales was found to be adequately reliable and valid, with overall sample reliability coefficients ranging from [alpha] = 0.69 to [alpha] = 0.90. Confinnatory factor analysis of the five-factor model produced acceptable fit indices (CFI = 0.908, TLI = 0.896, RMSEA = 0.059, SRMR = 0.071). A five-factor model performed favorably across several fit indices, providing preliminary validity for the FASTR. Further research should aim to replicate the observed factor structure in other samples and establish the clinical utility of the FASTR. Keywords Cigarette use * Functional assessment * Behavior analysis * Smoking cessation, Introduction Tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States and accounts for more than 6 million deaths worldwide every year (World Health Organization, 2018). The [...]

The current study used Internet-based contingency management (CM) to increase adherence with blood glucose testing to at least 4 times daily. Four teens diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes earned vouchers for submitting blood glucose testing videos over a Web site. Participants submitted a mean of 1.7 and 3.1 blood glucose tests per day during the 2 baseline conditions, respectively, compared to 5.7 tests per day during the intervention. Participants and their guardians rated the program favorably on a number of dimensions. The results suggest that Internet-based CM is feasible, acceptable, and effective to increase self-monitoring of blood glucose in teens. (Contains 1 figure.)

Smoking is associated with a number of chronic health conditions, including cardiovascular disease and various types of cancer. The decision to smoke can be conceptualized as preference for small, immediate rewards (e.g., relief from withdrawal) over larger, delayed rewards (e.g., good health). Contingency management (CM) takes advantage of this preference for immediate outcomes by delivering incentives, usually financial, for making the healthier choice to abstain from smoking. The current study tested the feasibility of harnessing naturally occurring social contingencies associated with smoking cessation to increase the promise of CM in initiating and sustaining long-term abstinence. Pairs of smokers with an existing relationship (i.e., friends, roommates, family, significant others) were recruited to quit together in the context of a smartphone-delivered, group CM intervention. Approximately 50% of interested participants identified a partner who also met criteria to participate, and five pairs (N= 10) completed the study. Using a within-subject design, participants could earn individual financial incentives for submitting breath carbon monoxide (CO) samples twice daily that met targeted goals for abstinence, and they could earn bonus incentives when both members of the pair met their targets together. Nine participants (90%) successfully reduced their mean breath CO during the intervention relative to baseline conditions. Individuals within a pair performed similarly to one another, for better or worse (i.e., both participants abstained, smoked, or missed samples at the same time). The social contingencies of quitting with someone with whom the smoker has an existing relationship may be helpful, but may also introduce unique challenges, particularly with regard to recruitment and treatment retention. Keywords Smoking cessation * Contingency management * Delay discounting * Social support ? Smartphones * Financial incentives, Smoking is the number one cause of preventable death in the United States and is associated with a number of chronic health conditions, including cardiovascular disease, emphysema, and chronic obstructive [...]

The current study used Internet-based contingency management (CM) to increase adherence with blood glucose testing to at least 4 times daily. Four teens diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes earned vouchers for submitting blood glucose testing videos over a Web site. Participants submitted a mean of 1.7 and 3.1 blood glucose tests per day during the 2 baseline conditions, respectively, compared to 5.7 tests per day during the intervention. Participants and their guardians rated the program favorably on a number of dimensions. The results suggest that Internet-based CM is feasible, acceptable, and effective to increase self-monitoring of blood glucose in teens. Key words: adherence, adolescents, blood glucose, contingency management, diabetes, Internet doi: 10.1901/jaba.2010.43-487

Technology-based interventions to promote health are expanding rapidly. Assessing the preliminary efficacy of these interventions can be achieved by employing single-case experiments (sometimes referred to as n-of-1 studies). Although single-case experiments are often misunderstood, they offer excellent solutions to address the challenges associated with testing new technology-based interventions. This paper provides an introduction to single-case techniques and highlights advances in developing and evaluating single-case experiments, which help ensure that treatment outcomes are reliable, replicable, and generalizable. These advances include quality control standards, heuristics to guide visual analysis of time-series data, effect size calculations, and statistical analyses. They also include experimental designs to isolate the active elements in a treatment package and to assess the mechanisms of behavior change. The paper concludes with a discussion of issues related to the generality of findings derived from single-case research and how generality can be established through replication and through analysis of behavioral mechanisms.