Episodic Future Thinking Increases Quitting Intention and Reduces Cigarette Consumption: The Role of Anticipated Regret

Background: Episodic future thinking (EFT), which refers to people simulating possible future life events, has been suggested as a promising intervention for substance use disorders. Objectives: To examine the effect of gain-oriented and loss-oriented EFT on smoking cessation and its underlying mechanisms. Results: Two online experiments were conducted (Total N = 362). The results suggested that engaging in EFT led to increased short-term quitting behavior among smokers by bolstering their intentions to quit smoking (indirect effect = 0.10, bootstrap = 5000, bias-corrected 95% CI [0.0008, 0.2353]). Furthermore, the influence of EFT on quitting intention was mediated by anticipated regret (indirect effect = 0.37, bootstrap = 5000, bias-corrected 95% CI [0.2062, 0.5321]). There were no significant differences observed between the effects of gain-oriented and loss-oriented EFT on quitting intention (F = 0.28, p = .60). Importance: Our findings contribute to a growing body of literature on the adaptive functioning of EFT and lend support to the regret regulation theory. Health practitioners may consider integrating EFT into clinical interventions to help smokers quit smoking.