The impact of imagining personalized versus standardized urge scenarios on cigarette craving and autonomic reactivity.

Abstract

A cue-reactivity paradigm was used to investigate the effects of personalizing imagery materials on smokers' reactivity to smoking cues. Cigarette smokers (n = 60) described situations used to create 4 personalized imagery scripts: positive mood/urge, positive mood/no urge, neutral mood/urge, and neutral mood/no urge. Their reactivity to these scripts as well as 4 standardized imagery scripts and 4 personalized scripts of another smoker was assessed. Personalization led to greater vividness, positive mood, and relevance ratings compared with the other 2 script types. Personalization of urge material did not enhance craving beyond that generated by the other 2 script types but did suppress craving under no-urge conditions. Findings stand in contrast to current conceptualizations of craving regarding the proposed impact of personalization on craving and suggest alternative mechanisms by which imagery cues influence craving generation.