Addictive behaviors
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Addictive behaviors · Oct 2014
Randomized Controlled TrialThe impact of pre-cessation varenicline on behavioral economic indices of smoking reinforcement.
Varenicline was developed to aid smoking cessation by reducing smoking reinforcement. The present study tests this reinforcement-reduction hypothesis among smokers preparing to quit. ⋯ Simulated smoking demand can be validly assessed in the natural environment of treatment-seeking smokers. Simulated demand indices of smoking reinforcement diminished as smokers approached their target quit date. However, there was no evidence that varenicline facilitated these changes over a three-week period, leaving open the mechanisms by which varenicline reduces smoking rate prior to cessation and improves long-term abstinence.