Recruiting

Episodic Future Thinking

Sponsor:

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Code:

NCT07158749

Conditions

Cigarette Smoking Behavior

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 21+

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

Interventions

Episodic Future Thinking (EFT)

Episodic Recent Thinking (ERT)

Domain-specific episodic thinking

Generalized episodic thinking

Study Details

Brief summary:

Cigarette smoking remains common, particularly in rural areas, despite ample evidence that smoking causes cancer and respiratory disease. Successful smoking cessation yields the majority of its health benefits (e.g., avoidance of lung cancer) after years of sustained behavioral change; however, people who smoke cigarettes tend to show elevated rates of delay discounting (i.e., devaluation of delayed outcomes) and a bias for immediate gratification. The overall goal of this project is to develop different versions of an episodic future thinking intervention (i.e., visualization of the future) and test their feasibility and efficacy for smoking cessation in rural and urban populations.

Conditions

Cigarette Smoking Behavior

Study ID

NCT07158749

Start date

Sep 25, 2026

Status verified date

Oct, 2026

Completion date

Jun, 2027

Anticipated

Primary completion date

Jun, 2027

Anticipated

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 21+

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

Inclusion Criteria:

  • smoked cigarettes daily for the last 30 days;
  • salivary cotinine > 30 ng/mL, consistent with tobacco use;
  • plan to quit smoking in the next 30 days

Exclusion Criteria:

  • prior diagnosis with a smoking-related illness (e.g., respiratory disease);
  • past 30-day use any smoking cessation treatment;
  • anxiety or mood disorders; and
  • medical contraindications for use of nicotine replacement therapy (e.g. pregnancy).

Study Design

Enrollment

134 participants

Anticipated

Allocation

Randomized

Intervention Model

Factorial

Primary purpose

Treatment

Interventions and Outcome Measures

Arms

experimental: Generalized episodic future thinking (EFT)

The Generalized EFT group will identify positive events that may occur at 6 future time points (1 month to 5 years). These may include a broad range of personally significant milestones (e.g., weddings, birthdays) or other events that participants are looking forward to (e.g., spending time with loved ones). Participants will also generate vivid text descriptions, or cues (transcribed in their own words), to prompt EFT in the natural environment. These cues, including emotional impacts, will be elicited using standardized questions: Who are you with? What are you doing? Where are you? How are you feeling?

Participants will be prompted to engage in Generalized EFT in the natural environment.

experimental: Domain-specific episodic future thinking (EFT)

The Domain-Specific EFT group will complete an identical interview as the Generalized EFT group to identify positive future events, with one exception. Following initial cue generation, participants will be provided with descriptions of lung cancer symptoms (e.g., painful breathing; extreme fatigue; coughing up blood, phlegm, or mucus) and will be asked to visualize and include details related to this experience and their emotional impact in their revised cues. Thus, cancer-related symptoms occur in the context of otherwise positive, personally significant events to further highlight the impact of the diagnosis and to be consistent with Generalized EFT.

Participants will be prompted to engage in Domain-Specific EFT in the natural environment.

placebo comparator: Generalized episodic recent thinking (ERT)

The Generalized ERT interview will be identical to the one described for Generalized EFT, except participants will describe positive events they experienced in the last week.

Participants will be prompted to engage in Generalized ERT in the natural environment.

active comparator: Domain-specific episodic recent thinking (ERT)

The Domain-Specific ERT interview will be identical to the one described for Domain-Specific EFT, except participants will describe positive events they experienced in the last week and will subsequently add detail as though they were experiencing symptoms of lung cancer.

Participants will be prompted to engage in Domain-Specific ERT in the natural environment.

Interventions

Episodic Future Thinking (EFT)

Participants will engage in EFT for 8 weeks, three times a day. Participants will receive three daily text messages. Each prompt will link to a custom web interface that guides participants to read and vividly imagine one of their cues, chosen randomly. Visit times and durations will be recorded.

Episodic Recent Thinking (ERT)

Participants will engage in ERT for 8 weeks, three times a day. Participants will receive three daily text messages. Each prompt will link to a custom web interface that guides participants to read and vividly imagine one of their cues, chosen randomly. Visit times and durations will be recorded.

Domain-specific episodic thinking

Content of the episodic thinking intervention will experiencing the symptoms of lung cancer during a broad range of personally meaningful, otherwise positive, events (e.g., social events, celebrations, spending times with friends and family).

Generalized episodic thinking

Content of the episodic thinking intervention will include a broad range of personally meaningful, positive, events (e.g., social events, celebrations, spending times with friends and family).

Primary outcome measure

  • Cigarettes smoked per day [ Time Frame: From Week 0 to the end of treatment at 8 weeks ]

Central Contacts and Locations

Central contacts

Jeffrey Stein, PhD

15405262124jstein1@vtc.vt.edu

Locations

Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC

Recruiting

Roanoke, Virginia, United States, 24015

Contacts

Jeffrey Stein, PhD

5405262124jstein1@vtc.vt.edu

More Information

Sponsor

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Last update posted

Oct 13, 2026

Last verified

Oct, 2026

Keywords

  • Cigarette smoking
  • episodic future thinking

Trial information was received from ClinicalTrials.gov and was last updated on 2026-10-14. This information was provided to ClinicalTrials.gov by Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University on 2026-10-13. Recruitment status is synced daily from ClinicalTrials.gov and may not reflect the sponsor's current status. Confirm during your call.