Cognitive Behavioural Therapy Group Counselling for Nicotine Dependence in College Students: Behavioural and Resting‐State EEG Microstate Evidence

Nicotine dependence is a chronic and relapsing disorder, with elevated onset risk during college years. Hence, we focus on college students and examine the immediate and short-term effects of 6-week cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) group counselling in reducing nicotine dependence. Forty-five participants were randomly assigned to either the CBT group (n = 24) or control group (n = 21) and completed the entire 6-week intervention. Assessments included daily cigarette consumption, the Fagerström Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND), DSM-5 Criteria for Tobacco Use Disorder (DSM-5), the Brief Questionnaire of Smoking Urges (QSU-Brief) and a 5-min eyes-closed resting-state EEG recording, administered at pre- and post-intervention. Four weeks after intervention, FTND and QSU-Brief were reassessed. Smokers in the CBT group demonstrated significant reductions in FTND, QSU-Brief, DSM-5 scores and daily cigarette consumption compared with the control group following the intervention. Moreover, QSU-Brief scores in the CBT group remained lower than those in the control group at 4-week follow-up. Furthermore, greater reductions in daily cigarette consumption were accompanied by smaller decreases in microstate class B occurrence and coverage in the CBT group. These findings suggest that CBT group counselling could be an effective intervention for nicotine dependence.