Getting Physical on Cigarettes - Smoking Cessation & Relapse Prevention

Adult female smokers will participate in an exercise-aided smoking cessation program, and will then be randomized into one of four cessation maintenance conditions: (a) Exercise Maintenance only (b) Exercise Maintenance + Relapse Prevention Booklets(c) Relapse Prevention Booklets + Contact and (d) Contact Control. Primary follow-up outcome is smoking behaviour. Secondary outcomes include exercise behaviour, Physiological measures (body composition (Dual-emission X-ray absorptiometry; DXA), vascular health (stiffness, endothelial function, carotid plaque volume), physical fitness), and Psychological measures (self-regulatory cognitions related to exercise adherence \[exercise, scheduling, barrier, relapse, and concurrent self-regulatory self-efficacy\]). The hypotheses detailed below are specific to the randomization of participants into the following 4 groups: 1. Exercise Maintenance only 2. Exercise Maintenance + Relapse Prevention Booklets 3. Relapse Prevention Booklets + Contact 4. Contact Control Hypothesis 1: Compared to quitters in the contact control condition, quitters exposed to a home-based lifestyle exercise maintenance intervention (Exercise Maintenance only and Exercise Maintenance + Relapse Prevention Booklets) will demonstrate significantly greater exercise adherence and fitness levels, as well as significantly less weight gain and smoking relapse rates following exercise-aided smoking cessation program termination. Hypothesis 2: Compared to quitters in the contact control condition, quitters exposed to relapse information only (Relapse Prevention Booklets + Contact) will experience significantly less smoking relapse following exercise-aided smoking cessation program termination. Due to the novelty and exploratory nature of the respective prevention programs, no hypotheses are specified with respect to which prevention program (exercise maintenance or relapse prevention information) will be superior to the other, or whether the additive benefits