Practicing Self-Control Lowers the Risk of Smoking Lapse

描述（由申请人提供）：拟议的研究将调查自我控制在戒烟中的作用，以及改善自我控制的干预措施是否有助于降低希望戒烟的吸烟者的戒烟风险。戒烟需要自我控制，因为对尼古丁的渴望和吸烟的习惯必须被克服。这种自我控制是困难的，而且往往失败，尽管个人的最佳意图。 一种新的自我控制理论可能有助于解释为什么以及何时自我控制可能会失败，并提供一种可能的干预措施，可以长期改善自我控制。根据这一理论，自我控制绩效取决于有限的资源（自我控制强度）。自我控制强度较高的个体在自我控制措施上的表现优于自我控制强度较低的个体。这种力量随着个体施加自我控制而消耗（耗尽）。因此，在短期内，施加自我控制应该会导致更差的自我控制表现。试图戒烟的人在有很多自我控制要求的日子里比在自我控制要求较少的日子里更容易失败。 从长远来看，自我控制应该会产生相反的效果。该理论预测，自我控制的练习应该导致力量的建立和自我控制的提高。就像体育锻炼一样，施加自我控制在短期内会导致虚弱和较差的表现，但在长期内会增加力量和更好的表现。先前的研究已经发现了证据，证明练习自我控制会提高自我控制能力。我们预测，在戒烟前练习自我控制的吸烟者比不练习自我控制的吸烟者更有可能成功戒烟。 目前的研究可以帮助我们进一步了解自我控制对戒烟的短期和长期影响。这对于理解戒烟以及改变其他健康行为的自我控制过程很重要。从这项研究中获得的信息将增加我们对自我控制和吸烟调节的理解，这可能有助于戒烟计划的设计。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The proposed study will investigate the role of self-control in smoking cessation and whether interventions that improve self-control can help reduce the risk of lapsing among smokers who wish to quit. Quitting smoking takes self-control, as the craving for nicotine and the habit of smoking must be overridden. Such self-control is difficult and often fails, despite the best intentions of the individual. A new theory of self-control may help explain why and when self-control is likely to fail as well as provide a possible intervention that may improve self-control in the long-term. According to this theory, self-control performance depends a limited resource (self-control strenqth). Individuals higher in self-control strength perform better on measures of self-control than individuals lower in self-control strength. This strength is consumed (depleted) as the individual exerts self-control. Thus, in the short-term, exerting self-control should result in poorer self-control performance. Individuals trying to quit smoking should be more likely to lapse on days when they have many self-control demands than on days when they have fewer self-control demands. In the long run, exerting self-control should have the opposite effect. The theory predicts that practicing of self-control should lead to a building of strength and an improvement in self-control. Like physical exercise, exerting self-control leads to weakness and poorer performance in the short-term, but increased strength and better performance in the long-term. Prior studies have found evidence that practicing self-control leads to an improvement in self-control. We predict that smokers who practice self-control prior to quitting should be more likely to succeed in their cessation attempt than smokers who do not practice self-control. The present research can help advance our knowledge of both the short and long-term effects of exerting self-control on smoking cessation. This is important to understanding the self-control processes that underlie abstaining from cigarettes as well as changing other health behaviors. Information from this study will increase our comprehension of self-control and the regulation of smoking, which may be useful in the design of smoking cessation programs.