Community-based Smoking Cessation Treatment for Adults With High Stress Sensitivity.

Efficacy and Implementation of Exercise-based Smoking Cessation Treatment for Adults With High Anxiety Sensitivity.

Anxiety sensitivity, reflecting the fear of bodily sensations, is a risk factor for the maintenance and relapse of smoking. This study is designed to address the question - is a smoking cessation intervention personalized to high anxiety sensitive smokers and adapted for implementation by the YMCA effective among racially/ethnically diverse samples?

This protocol provides the recommended treatment to achieve smoking cessation (i.e., counseling and nicotine replacement therapy) and randomly assigns individuals to a high-intensity exercise or low-intensity exercise intervention as a strategy to engage the mechanisms relevant to high anxiety sensitive smokers to improve smoking cessation outcomes.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Adult (age ≥ 18);
• High Anxiety Sensitivity (≥5 on the Short Scale Anxiety Sensitivity Index [SSASI]);
• Daily smoker, ≥5 cigarettes (including e-cigarettes, little cigars/cigarillos) for ≥1 year;
• Motivated to quit smoking as evidenced by a score of ≥5 on a 0-10 Likert scale;
• Body mass index < 40;
• Medical clearance to participate.
• Located near a participating YMCA site (within 50 miles)

Exclusion Criteria:

• Regular exercise defined as engaging in vigorous-intensity exercise for at least 75 minutes per week for the last 3 months
• Receiving current intervention for smoking cessation.
• Outstanding debt to the YMCA
• Listed as a sex offender on the National Sex Offender Registry