Análisis de variables relacionadas con el éxito en el autoabandono del consumo de tabaco

Abstract

In this study we have compared the characteristics presented by two groups of smokers who begin trying to quit their consumption of tobacco without professional help. The study of these procedures is infrequent due to the prevalence of biological models in addictive behaviors. However, there are more and more questions brought up by these models and the conceptions that they imply. The high frequency of addictive substance users, especially those of tobacco, brings our attention to the behavioral repertoires that they show: firstly, all those who try to quite without help, and subsequently, we delve into the characteristics of those persons who try and succeed without help. 137 smokers participated in this study, of which 99 had been successful in quitting their tobacco usage without professional help, and 38 who in spite of trying to stop smoking without any assistance had not been able to remain abstinent. The assignment to one group or another was guided by the participants themselves and corroborated via co-oximetry. We developed an interview model for each of the groups, containing some elements in common and others that were differentiating according to the status of the smoker at the time of the interview. The results show that the smokers who presented greater psychological flexibility were those who were more likely to succeed, while other variables of medical history that are traditionally used in scientific literature to explain the efficacy in quitting smoking without or with professional help did not turn out to be determining in the success of quitting.