Trial reportAddiction (Abingdon, England)2023
Efficacy and safety of combination behavioral activation for smoking cessation and varenicline for treating tobacco dependence among individuals with current or past major depressive disorder: A 2 × 2 factorial, randomized, placebo-controlled trial.
Trial report in Addiction (Abingdon, England), 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 11 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 11 citations in OpenAlex.
- Korean Clinical Practice Guideline of Korean Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco (KSRNT) and National Evidence-based Healthcare Collaborating Agency (NECA) on Treatment of Tobacco Use 2024.Journal of Korean medical science · 2025Guideline
- Behavioral activation for smoking cessation may improve bodily pain in adults with lifetime major depressive disorder.Journal of affective disorders · 2026Trial
- Pilot Trial of a Behavioral Economics-Informed Clinical Decision Support Alert to Improve Inpatient Tobacco Use Treatment Rates.Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco · 2025Trial
- Baseline predictors of smoking cessation among individuals with current or past major depressive disorder following treatment with varenicline and intensive behavioral treatment.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2025Trial
- Behavioral Activation mHealth Application for Smoking Cessation: A Randomized Controlled Pilot Trial.Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco · 2024Trial
- Seeing Through the Blind: Belief About Treatment Randomization and Smoking Cessation Outcome Among People With Current or Past Major Depressive Disorder Who Smoke in a Placebo-Controlled Trial of Varenicline.Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco · 2024Trial
- Depression Severity Moderates Reward Learning Among Smokers With Current or Past Major Depressive Disorder in a Smoking Cessation Randomized Clinical Trial.Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco · 2024Trial
- Treatment adherence in a smoking cessation clinical trial for individuals with current or past major depressive disorder: Predictors and association with cessation.Addictive behaviors · 2023Trial
- Change in cardiovascular health among adults with current or past major depressive disorder enrolled in intensive smoking cessation treatment.Journal of affective disorders · 2023Trial
- Expanding the scope of the withdrawal syndrome: Anhedonia as a core nicotine withdrawal symptom.Journal of psychopathology and clinical science · 2025Observational
- Effect of early medication adherence on behavioral treatment utilization and smoking cessation among individuals with current or past major depressive disorder.Addictive behaviors · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
16 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND
aimsTreatment of depression-related psychological factors related to smoking behavior may improve rates of cessation among adults with major depressive disorder (MDD). This study measured the efficacy and safety of 12 weeks of behavioral activation for smoking cessation (BASC), varenicline and their combination. DESIGN, SETTING,
participantsThis study used a randomized, placebo-controlled, 2 × 2 factorial design comparing BASC versus standard behavioral treatment (ST) and varenicline versus placebo, taking place in research clinics at two urban universities in the United States. Participants comprised 300 hundred adult smokers with current or past MDD.
interventionsBASC integrated behavioral activation therapy and ST to increase engagement in rewarding activities by reducing avoidance, withdrawal and inactivity associated with depression. ST was based on the 2008 PHS Clinical Practice Guideline. Both treatments consisted of eight 45-min sessions delivered between weeks 1 and 12. Varenicline and placebo were administered for 12 weeks between weeks 2 and 14. MEASUREMENTS: Primary outcomes were bioverified intent-to-treat (ITT) 7-day point-prevalence abstinence at 27 weeks and adverse events (AEs).
findingsNo significant interaction was detected between behavioral treatment and pharmacotherapy at 27 weeks (χ
conclusionA randomized trial in smokers with major depressive disorder found that varenicline improved smoking abstinence versus placebo at 27 weeks without elevating rates of adverse events. Behavioral activation for smoking cessation did not outperform standard behavioral treatment, with or without adjunctive varenicline therapy.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.