Bradizza | Eiden | Stasiewicz | Brandon

Cigarette smoking during pregnancy is a significant public health issue that can have profound effects on women’s health and the health of their developing fetus. Smoking among pregnant women is associated with high levels of negative affect, which plays a key role in both continuing to smoke and attempting to quit smoking. The smoking cessation treatment strategies that have demonstrated effectiveness in regular smokers have not translated into effective treatment strategies for pregnant women. Therefore, the goal of this project was to develop and test an affect regulation smoking cessation intervention for pregnant smokers, particularly low-income pregnant smokers for whom other treatments have been ineffective. In phase one of the project, Dr. Bradizza and colleagues developed an eight-session Affect Regulation Training intervention. In phase two, a randomized clinical trial was conducted to compare the Affect Regulation Training intervention with a control intervention. The trial assessed the impact on smoking cessation rates at the six-month post-quit date and changes in affect regulation skills and negative affect among pregnant smokers, thereby providing long-term health benefits for both the mothers and their children. Dr. Bradizza’s co-investigators included Drs. Rina Eiden, Paul Stasiewicz, and Dr. Thomas Brandon of the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and the University of South Florida. Funded by a grant of $1,816,091 from NIDA and the Office of the Director, NIH, 2007-2012.