Preliminary Study of the Effects of an Innovative Social Cognitive Theory Driven Yoga-Based Behavioral Intervention on Smoking Cessation

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to develop and test an innovative yoga-based behavioral intervention for smoking cessation based on social cognitive theory and compare it with an existing self-help based program. In both the groups, the antecedents of quitting based on social cognitive theory, namely, selfefficacy for quitting and self-control for quitting were tracked for six months along with self-reported daily consumption of cigarettes, self-efficacy for yoga, and past week performance of yoga behaviors. A valid and reliable 23-item instrument was utilized. The study employed an experimental design. Twenty one participants recruited in this study after informed consent and randomly assigned to the two groups. Seven (33.3%) participants completed the study protocol and one participant who was in the yoga group was successful in quitting smoking. Statistically significant improvements occurred in the social cognitive-theory based yoga group over the self-help group for self-control for quitting (p<0.001) and performance of yoga behaviors (p<0.05). This pilot study suggested that a social cognitive theory based yoga intervention was more efficacious in influencing the antecedents of smoking cessation than a selfhelp approach. This study lends support for developing and testing future interventions regarding the use of yoga as a behavioral method for smoking cessation.