Smoking Cessation Among Self-Quitters.
Hughes, John R. 1; Gulliver, Suzy B.; Fenwick, James W.; Valliere, William A.
[Review] Health Psychology. 11(5):331-334, 1992.

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: Examined cessation among 630 smokers who quit abruptly on their own. Continuous, complete abstinence rates were 33% at 2 days, 24% at 7 days, 22% at 14 days, 19% at 1 mo, 11% at 3 mo, 8% at 6 mo postcessation, and 3% at 6 mo with biochemical verification. Slipping (smoking an average of less than 1 cigarette/day) was common (9% to 15% of Ss) and was a strong predictor of relapse; however, 23% of long-term abstainers slipped at some point. Results challenge beliefs that most smokers can initially stop smoking and that most relapse occurs later on postcessation.

(C) 1992 by the American Psychological Association