An investigation into the effects of a short-term mindfulness intervention on stress and cigarette smoking in young adults

Stewart, Charlotte (2014) An investigation into the effects of a short-term mindfulness intervention on stress and cigarette smoking in young adults. Manchester Metropolitan University. (Unpublished)

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Abstract

Cigarette smoking among young adults is increasing, with a recent survey showing that more than half of the UK’s 20-24 year olds are nicotine dependant (ASH, 2013). There is emerging evidence that mindfulness practice has the potential to reduce smoking in young adults (Bowen & Marlatt 2009; Tang & Posner, 2013; Davis et al., 2013), possibly through stress reduction (Davis et al., 2007). Eight-teen young adult smokers were randomly assigned to either a mindfulness condition or an active control condition to investigate whether a short-term mindfulness intervention would reduce stress and smoking and improve trait mindfulness over a three week period. The mindfulness condition experienced significant increases in trait mindfulness and significant reductions of self-reported stress and smoking from pre-post intervention. No significant changes in any of the variables were found for the control condition. The current study therefore offers promising results for the efficacy of short-term mindfulness interventions for young adult smokers.