About the Project
Project: Annually around 100,000 people die in the UK and 6 million worldwide due to smoking. One-third of smokers attempt to quit every year in the UK, though most relapse after just a few months. Smoking any cigarettes early on in a quit attempt (‘lapse’) is strongly related to a later return to smoking (‘relapse’) and environmental and context-based cues to smoke have a profound influence on this, by causing ‘cue-induced’ cravings. The use of cognitive-behavioural techniques to avoid or cope with such cravings (e.g. self-talk or avoiding other smokers) can be effective, but few use these strategies when attempting to quit and little is known about which techniques are effective, why and for whom.
Project aims are: (1) review the literature on cognitive-behavioural lapse prevention interventions or techniques; (2) identify effectiveness and key factors in the use of lapse prevention techniques through secondary analysis; (3) design a lapse prevention intervention and undertake a pilot evaluation study (4) undergo research skills training, personal and career development. The project would provide opportunities to undertake a systematic review, a mixed methods analysis of observational data, behaviour change intervention development, within-participant time-series data collection and experimental pilot evaluation of a behaviour change intervention e.g. an Ecological Momentary Intervention.
Training Programme: Evidence synthesis, mixed methods, quantitative methods and statistical analysis including within-participant approaches, experimental evaluation, writing for publication, thesis preparation, dissemination, and personal and professional development.
Outputs: Thesis, publications, presentations, evidence to inform practice, potential future evaluation study.
We are seeking a student with a good first degree (at least 2:1) and preferably a Masters in a related topic area (e.g., health psychology, public health, social science, research methods) or equivalent research experience. The student will have an interest in behaviour change, relevant research methods and data analysis, and will be committed and self-directed.
For more information on the supervisor for this project, please go here: https://people.uea.ac.uk/en/persons/f-naughton
The type of programme: PhD
The start date of the project: 01/10/2019
Mode of study: Full time
Entry requirements: Relevant degrees include psychology, social science, public health, health sciences etc.
The standard minimum entry requirement for the studentship competition is 2:1 (or equivalent)
Funding Notes
This PhD project is in a Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences competition for funded studentships. These studentships are funded for 3 years and comprise of Home/EU fees, a stipend of £15,009 and £1000 per annum to support research training. Overseas applicants may apply but are required to fund the difference between home/EU and overseas tuition fees (in 2019/20 the difference is £14,373 for lab based projects and £11,073 for non-lab based projects but fees are subject to an annual increase).
References
) Deiches JF, Baker TB, Lanza S, Piper ME. Early Lapses in a Cessation Attempt: Lapse Contexts, Cessation Success, and Predictors of Early Lapse. Nicotine Tob Res 2013;15(11):1883-91.
ii) Shiffman S, Paty JA, Gnys M, Kassel JA, Hickcox M. First lapses to smoking: within-subjects analysis of real-time reports. J Consult Clin Psychol 1996;64(2):366-79.
iii) Naughton F, Hopewell S, Lathia N, Schalbroeck R, Brown C, Mascolo C, Sutton S. The feasibility of a context sensing smoking cessation smartphone application (Q Sense): a mixed methods study. JMIR mHealth uHealth, 2016, 4(3).
iv) Naughton F. Delivering 'Just-In-Time' smoking cessation support via mobile phones: Current knowledge and future directions. Nicotine Tob Res 2017, 19(3): 379-383.
v) Notley C, Collins R. Redefining smoking relapse as recovered social identity – secondary qualitative analysis of relapse narratives. J Subst Abuse 2018;23(6):660-666.