Abstract
Nicotine fading and external control fading as a procedure for smoking control. This study describes the application of a nicotine fading, cigarette fading and therapeutic control fading procedure in 11 subjects who were chronic smokers, and who wished to control their smoking behavior. The subjects chose between controlled smoking or abstinence as the treatment goal. The results showed that 71% of the subjects who aimed to achieve abstinence were not smoking after a one-year follow-up period, and that 25% of the subjects who chose controlled smoking continued with their goal during this period. All participants markedly reduced their smoking behavior and maintained this reduction over time. This study replicates and extends the findings of earlier investigations, and shows the procedure used to yield better results than other interventions designed to control smoking behavior. The results suggest that the goal of controlled smoking involves a high risk of relapsing to baseline levels of smoking, whereas when abstinence is the goal, the risk of relapse is significantly reduced.
