Seeing through the smoke: the impact of visual smoking cues on craving

Who can be involved?

We are inviting adults over the age of 18 that are fluent in English to take part.  Participation is entirely voluntary, and neither grades nor academic relationships will be affected by either refusal or agreement to participate.

Study procedures

·       This study is comprised of two stages: (1) a baseline questionnaire, (2) a laboratory session.

·       The baseline questionnaire includes questions related to your general health and smoking habits.  This will take about 30 minutes and can be completed online or as a hard copy.

·       Once we receive your completed baseline questionnaire, we will contact you with regards to arranging a time for you to come in to the Department of Psychological Medicine and participate in the second part of the study. 

·       During the laboratory session, you will be evaluating pictures while your cardiovascular and brain wave activity is recorded.

·       First, you will be fitted with an electroencephalogram (EEG) cap and  64 electrodes placed on your scalp (to record your brain activity).  There will also be four electrodes placed next to your eyes (to record eye movement and blinking) and two placed around your heart (to record heart rate).  This is a painless and harmless procedure.

·       The pictures you will be evaluating include smoking-related images as well as neutral and negative images.

·       It is important to note that the researcher is not medically trained and will not be able to make any clinical observations about your heartbeat or brain wave activity.

·       In total, the laboratory session will take about 90 minutes.

Risks and benefits

There are no direct benefits of being in this study.  However, the knowledge gained from this research may be useful for developing new strategies to help smokers decrease their cravings. You will also be given your choice of an $80.00 MTA (Motor Trade Association) or Westfield voucher at completion of the experimental session to compensate you for your time.  MTA vouchers can be used for anything from a petrol station (food, magazines, etc.) and is not restricted to petrol purchases.

Although it is possible that you may find components of the laboratory session demanding, there are no risks associated with the procedures and equipment used in this study, and you are free to withdraw at any stage. If you were injured in this study, which is highly unlikely, you would be eligible for compensation from ACC just as you would be if you were injured in an accident at work or at home.  A list of healthcare professionals is also provided on page 5 should any unexpected distress occur from participating in this study.

Confidentiality and data storage

The questions covering physical, emotional and mental/cognitive wellbeing as well as the physiological (heart rate and brain activity) recordings are essential for this experiment.  All responses and information relating to you will be kept completely confidential and names are not associated with recordings.  Furthermore, no identifying information will appear on the questionnaires or other materials.  The information you provide with regards to your contact details will only be used to contact you regarding your interest in participating and getting you enrolled in the study.  Data reported in summaries of research findings, including research journals, will be presented as group averages and percentages.  It will not be possible to associate your identity with any of your responses. 

The data obtained from research will be saved securely on to the researcher’s computer at Department of Psychological Medicine, University of Auckland.  An electronic file of the study data will include your identity code.  The file will be password protected and only persons directly involved with the project will have access to this file.  Hard copies will be stored in a locked cabinet. The data will be destroyed after a period of six years.  This will be done by shredding/ deleting according to whether the data has been stored in an electronic or hard copy.  A summary of the study results may be provided to interested participants.

Rights

You have the right to pull out from the study and withdraw your data any time until the 1^st  February 2016. If you decide to withdraw from the study, all of your data will be securely destroyed.

What will happen after the study ends?

You will be given the opportunity to indicate whether you would like to receive a summary of the research findings.  If you would like to receive a copy of the summary report, please indicate so at the bottom of the consent form and provide an email address where you would like the report sent.  As it takes some time to analyse the results of studies, it may be more than twelve months after your participation before you receive this information.

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