Reduction of smoking and cigarette craving in smoking addiction adolescents by using transcranial direct current stimulation with mindfulness-based therapy programs
Abstract:
The objectives of this research were to develop and to examine the effect of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) with Mindfulness-Based Therapy Programs (MBTPs) for reducing the smoking and cigarette craving in smoking-addicted adolescents. The participants consisted of eighty smoking-addicted adolescents from a secondary school in Chonburi province; they were randomly assigned to a control group who received no intervention program, to experimental group 1 who received the Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) with Mindfulness-Based Therapy Programs, to experimental group 2 who received only Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) program, and to experimental group 3 who received only the Mindfulness-Based Therapy program. Research instruments included 1) Questionnaire of Smoking Urges, 2) Breathalyzer carbon monoxide meter (BCO), and 3) Urine nicotine kit. The 5-day tDCS with MBTPs consisted of two activities: 1) 30-minute mindfulness activities and 2) Brain stimulation using a 20-minute mild electrical current. Data were analyzed by descriptive statistics, dependent t-test, Wilcoxon-signed rank test, Kruskal-Wallis test, and one-way ANOVA. The results revealed that, after training, the mean scores of cigarette craving, BCO level, the urine nicotine level, and the number of smoked cigarettes in the three experimental groups exhibited a significant decrease when compared to the scores before the experiment (p.001). Moreover, it was found that, after training, experimental group 3 had BCO level mean scores lower than that of experimental group 1 and experimental group 2 at a statistical significance level of .001.