Ursula Martínez

University of Utah | UOU · Department of Family and Preventive Medicine

Purpose Smoking after cancer impairs cancer treatment outcomes and prognosis, regardless of cancer type. Prior data suggest that patients with cancers other than lung or head/neck cancer had lower cessation motivation, which in turn predicted lower smoking abstinence. This study evaluated feasibility for a future efficacy trial and assessed the acc...

Significance: Smoking rates have declined in the U.S. over the last several decades but vary by population subgroup. Hispanic adults generally have lower smoking rates than Non-Hispanic White individuals, but this varies greatly by country of origin, with some Hispanic subgroups, such as Puerto Ricans, reaching smoking prevalence rates up to 28%. H...

Smoking by cancer patients impairs treatment outcomes and prognoses across cancer types. Previous research shows greater smoking cessation motivation and quit rates among patients with cancers strongly linked to smoking (i.e., thoracic, head and neck) compared to other cancer types (e.g., melanoma). Therefore, there is a need to increase cessation...

Diversifying the biomedical research workforce is crucial for eliminating cancer health disparities. To address this need, Moffitt Cancer Center and Louisiana State University Health Sciences formed the Southeast Partnership for Improving Research and Training in Cancer Health Disparities (SPIRIT-CHD). A key component of SPIRIT-CHD is the Cancer Re...

Background Promoting smoking cessation is recognized as an essential part of cancer care. Moffitt Cancer Center, supported by the National Cancer Institute Cancer Moonshot Cancer Center Cessation Initiative, developed and implemented an opt-out-based automatic electronic health record (EHR)-mediated referral (e-referral) system for Tobacco Quitline...

Purposeof Review The prevalence of problematic substance use is disproportionately higher among sexual and gender minority (SGM) adults compared to adults in the general population. mHealth as a treatment modality could reduce barriers to accessing substance use treatments among SGM populations. Through a qualitative literature search, the current...

Introduction Hispanic smokers face multiple cultural and socioeconomic barriers to cessation that lead to prominent health disparities, including a lack of language-appropriate, culturally relevant, evidence-based smoking cessation interventions. This systematic review will examine the literature on smoking cessation interventions for Hispanic adul...

***Introduction Little is known about facilitators and barriers to smoking cessation among Hispanics seeking treatment. This secondary analysis examined attributions for abstinence or smoking among participants in a nationwide randomized controlled trial testing a self-help smoking cessation intervention among Spanish-speaking Hispanics in the Unit...

Prior research indicates bisexual individuals have higher smoking and vaping rates and heightened vulnerability to negative health outcomes. Thus, we compared adult bisexual (n = 294) and heterosexual (n = 2412) participants enrolled in a smoking cessation trial on baseline smoking and vaping use behaviors, motivations, and expectancies/beliefs as...

Aims: To identify subpopulations of dual users of combustible and electronic cigarettes using current smoking and vaping behaviors. Design: Secondary analysis of baseline data from a randomized controlled trial testing a smoking cessation intervention for dual users. Finite mixture modeling of frequency, quantity, and dependence on combustible a...

Introduction Hispanic/Latinx smokers in the United States are often treated as a homogeneous group. However, population-based studies suggest cigarette use differs among Hispanic/Latinx subgroups by sociodemographic or sociocultural characteristics. This secondary analysis aimed to advance the limited literature by examining differences in smoking-...

Background Hispanic/Latinx smokers living in the United States face unique challenges in quitting smoking. This study evaluated the efficacy of a culturally relevant, Spanish‐language, extended self‐help smoking cessation intervention among Hispanic smokers. Methods A 2‐arm parallel randomized controlled trial was conducted with Hispanic/Latinx sm...

Background Although many smokers use electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) to quit smoking, most continue to smoke while vaping. This dual use might delay cessation and increase toxicant exposure. We aimed to test the efficacy of a self-help intervention designed to help dual users to quit smoking. Methods In this three-arm randomised controlled tr...

Since 2018, we have evaluated the effectiveness of various teaching technologies for training young investigators on translational research in cancer health disparities. The Southeast Partnership for Improving Research and Training in Cancer Health Disparities (SPIRIT-CHD) unites Moffitt Cancer Center and the Louisiana State University Health Scien...

Tobacco use, particularly cigarette smoking, continues to be the leading preventable cause of cancer. Moreover, smoking by cancer patients is detrimental to their treatment outcomes and prognosis. Therefore, tobacco control remains a key element of comprehensive cancer prevention and control. The tobacco landscape continues to evolve, with demograp...

Background Abstaining from smoking after a cancer diagnosis is critical to mitigating the risk of multiple adverse health outcomes. Although many patients with cancer attempt to quit smoking, the majority relapse. The current randomized controlled trial evaluated the efficacy of adapting an evidence‐based smoking relapse prevention (SRP) interventi...

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via the original article.

BACKGROUND There is a pressing need to address the unacceptable disparities and underrepresentation of racial/ethnic minority groups, including Hispanics/Latinxs, in smoking cessation trials. OBJECTIVE Given the lack of research on recruitment strategies for this population, this study assessed effective recruitment methods based on enrollment and...

Background There is a pressing need to address the unacceptable disparities and underrepresentation of racial and ethnic minority groups, including Hispanics or Latinxs, in smoking cessation trials. Objective Given the lack of research on recruitment strategies for this population, this study aims to assess effective recruitment methods based on e...

Although the current smoking prevalence among Hispanics/Latinxs (10%) is lower than in non-Hispanic whites (15%), higher prevalence is observed among certain subgroups (e.g., Puerto Rican males, 19%). Hispanic/Latinx smokers face unique challenges such as lower awareness and acceptability of nicotine replacement aids, lower prevalence of using coun...

Objective: Smoking cessation improves quality of life (QOL) in the general population. However, there is limited information on the role of smoking status on QOL among cancer patients. Moreover, previous studies tended to analyze smoking status dichotomously and at a single point in time, potentially reducing the strength of the relation between s...

Introduction Although some smokers switch to exclusive use of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes), others become dual users of combustible cigarettes and e-cigarettes. Little is known about how the onset of vaping affects the use of and dependence on combustible cigarettes or total nicotine use and dependence, which may influence health-related an...

Background and Aims Most e‐cigarette users who also smoke combustible cigarettes (dual users) begin vaping to quit smoking, yet only a subset succeeds. We hypothesized that reinforcing characteristics of e‐cigarettes (Vaping Reinforcement) would positively predict smoking cessation propensity (SCP) among dual users. Design Secondary analysis of cr...

Introduction: Substance use and depression co-occurrence is a frequent phenomenon and an important public health concern. Given the clinical implications and the high prevalence of both disorders, effective interventions are needed. Methods: The aim of this study is to review Behavioural Activation (BA) intervention effects to improve substance...

Smoking-related illnesses are the leading causes of death among Hispanics/Latinos. Yet, there are few smoking cessation interventions targeted for this population. The goal of this study was to “transcreate” an existing, previously validated, English language self-help smoking cessation intervention, titled Forever Free®: Stop Smoking for Good, for...

Background The use of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) has increased dramatically over the past decade. Although the majority of users report initiating e-cigarette use (vaping) to quit or reduce use of combustible cigarettes (smoking), a substantial proportion become “dual users” of both. Little is known about the patterns of dual use of, and...

Background Previous studies indicate that quitting smoking significantly improves health-related quality of life (QOL) in patients with lung and head and neck cancer. However, few prospective studies have investigated the role of smoking status on QOL across patients diagnosed with a wide range of cancers. The aim of the present study was to examin...

Background: Previous studies have shown that smoking is associated with health-related quality of life (HRQoL) impairment. In order to evaluate HRQoL in a sample of Spanish relapsers, a cross-sectional study was conducted. Method: The sample was made up of 775 smokers who had relapsed after a period of abstinence. HRQoL was evaluated using the E...

Objective Smoking after a diagnosis of cancer can negatively impact treatment outcomes and quality of life. It is important that patients quit smoking and remain abstinent regardless of cancer type. Some cancer types (e.g., lung) have stronger links to smoking as a cause than do others (e.g., colorectal). The aims of this study were to (1) assess a...

Psychopathology and psychological distress have been shown to be related to poor smoking cessation outcomes and abstinence maintenance. Thus, it is important to identify individuals with high levels of psychopathology before undergoing smoking cessation treatment in order to increase their likelihood of success. Objective: The primary aim of the pr...

Introduction: Relapse is a common factor within the behavior change process. However, there is scarce and limited knowledge of smoking relapse situations in population-based samples. The aim of this study was to identify smoking relapse situations among a sample of Spanish relapsers from the general population. Methods: A sample of 775 relapsers...

People with psychopathology experience high rates of smoking and have more trouble quitting. The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 Restructured Form (MMPI-2-RF; Tellegen & Ben-Porath, 2008, 2009) is a valid and reliable instrument for the assessment of psychopathology. In this study, we examined the ability of the MMPI-2-RF to assess ps...

Resumen Aunque contamos con tratamientos eficaces para la dependencia del tabaco, la recaída continúa siendo un fenómeno frecuente en aquellos que consiguen dejar de fumar. El objetivo del presente estudio fue analizar si existían diferencias en función del sexo en la curva de recaída en hombres y mujeres que participaron en un tratamiento psicológ...

Objective To examine the effectiveness of smoking cessation interventions in improving cessation rates and smoking related behaviour in patients with head and neck cancer (HNC). Design A systematic review of randomised and non-randomised controlled trials. Methods We searched the following data sources: CENTRAL in the Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, E...

Diverse studies have found a relation between alcohol consumption and smoking relapse. Few studies have analyzed the relation of smoking relapse with pretreatment alcohol consumption and gender differences. The main purpose of this study is to analyze the influence of alcohol consumption in smoking relapse over 12 months (3-, 6-, and 12-months foll...

Background: There is consistent evidence about the relationship between smoking and mental health. This study compares the relationship between tobacco use and personality disorders (PDs) in Spanish adults from general and clinical population, taking into account nicotine dependence (ND), and the presence of any mental disorder. Method: The samp...

Introduction: Although quitting motivation predicts smoking cessation, there have been inconsistent findings regarding motivation predicting long-term maintenance of abstinence. Moreover, most such research has been conducted in North America and the United Kingdom. The aim of this study was to examine motivation to quit as a predictor of smoking...

Background: The relationship between tobacco and depressive symptoms has been examined. However, there is little information on the evolution of these symptoms when an individual quits. The aim of this study was to analyze the evolution of depressive symptoms over time (pre-, post-treatment, 1-, 3-, 6-, and 12-months follow-up) in relation to smok...

Knowing more about the personality of smokers may help to increase the effectiveness of smoking cessation treatments and can contribute to relapse prevention. The aim of the present study was to analyze the influence of 30 specific facets of the Five-Factor Model of personality on the outcomes at the end of treatment and at 12-month follow-up, in a...

Craving and nicotine withdrawal syndrome (NWS) are components of the tobacco use disorder in DSM-5. They both appear after smoking cessation or an abrupt reduction in tobacco use, and they are associated with both short and long-term smoking-cessation outcomes. The aim of the present study was to examine the association of craving and withdrawal wi...

El craving y el sindrome de abstinencia de la nicotina (SAN) forman parte del trastorno por consumo del tabaco en el DSM-5. Ambos aparecen tras dejar de fumar o tras una reduccion brusca del consumo de tabaco, y estan relacionados con los resultados de dejar de fumar a corto y largo plazo. El objetivo del presente estudio fue analizar la relacion d...

Background: In recent years, the prevalence of daily smokers has decreased in all developed countries due to a great variety of factors. Despite this decrease, the effectiveness of clinical treatments has decreased and several studies report a change in smokers' characteristics. The purpose of the present study is to analyze the changes in the cha...

The aim of the present study is to examine the relationship between cigarette smoking and personality patterns in the general population, taking into account the possible influence of nicotine dependence. We used a stratified random sample of 1,081 adults from the general population (519 smokers and 562 non-smokers) in the region of Galicia (Spain)...

Background: Few studies have investigated the relationship between smoking and health-related quality of life (HRQOL), and the results are not consistent. The aim of this study is to explore the association between smoking and HRQOL. Method: Cross-sectional study of 714 Spanish adults (44.7% never smokers and 55.3% smokers) without diagnosis of...

Background: Parents play an important role in determining the risk of children's drug use. The aim of this study was to analyse how certain family-related variables (permissiveness toward drug use, and parental control and affect) were linked to the use of alcohol, tobacco and cannabis, based on young people's self-report of such variables. Metho...

Addiction is usually defined as the continued use of substances or activities despite their negative consequences. Different models have been proposed to explain why people start using drugs and why they still continue using even when they experience physical, psychological and/or social problems. In this context, prefrontal cortex (PFC), which has...

Background The lack of conclusive results and the scarce use of the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-III (MCMI-III) in the study of the relationship between smoking and personality are the reasons that motivated the study reported here. The aim of the present study was to analyze the influence of personality patterns, assessed with the MCMI-III...

Introduction: Although it has been suggested that persons with psychopathological disorders experience greater difficulty in quitting smoking, the few studies that have analyzed personality disorders in smokers have failed to produce conclusive results. The aim of this study was to examine whether the presence of probable personality disorders was...

Knowing which factors predict the use of psychostimulant drugs among youths is important for designing preventive programs and the identification of youths with the highest probability of use, to avoid some of the problems that can be derived from it. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between perceived availability, risk perc...

Knowing which factors predict the use of psychostimulant drugs among youths is important for designing preventive programs and the identification of youths with the highest probability of use, to avoid some of the problems that can be derived from it. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between perceived availability, risk perc...

It is well known that various aspects of family functioning can influence children's drug use, both by promoting resilience and by increasing the risk of use. This review examines studies published in the last 30 years about the influence of family disorganization on children's drug use. Based on the results, we consider that disorganised families...

A recent phenomenon with a special interest for research is drug consumption among youths, which is an important aspect of night life and "botellon" (street drinking) in Spain. The aim of the present study is to analyze the differences between stimulant users (cocaine and ecstasy) and non-users in their nightlife recreational habits. The sample con...

The present study examined whether personality disorders (PDs) are associated with cigarette smoking, and the possible influence of nicotine dependence, sociodemographic variables, and the presence of any lifetime Axis I mental disorder in these relationships. The sample was made up of 1,081 adult participants from the Spanish general population an...

It is well known that various aspects of family functioning can influence children's drug use, both by promoting resilience and by increasing the risk of use. This review examines studies published in the last 30 years about the influence of family disorganization on children's drug use. Based on the results, we consider that disorganised families...

The family plays a fundamental role in the prevention and treatment of substance use. Parental styles are among the family variables most widely studied. This review covers the studies published in the last 30 years on the relationship between parental styles and their offspring's drug use. Research indicates that the authoritative style is the mos...

Stimulant consumption is especially important in our context because its use has greatly increased in recent years. The aim of the present study is to analyze the differences between stimulant users and nonusers (under 18 years old) in personality characteristics assessed with the MACI. The sample comprises 398 youths between 14 and 17 years old wh...

Los accidentes de tráfico, las enfermedades de transmisión sexual y embarazos no deseados, las borracheras y el consumo de drogas (fundamentalmente psicoestimulantes) son algunos de los aspectos más negativos asociados al reciente fenómeno de salir de marcha. El objetivo del presente estudio es analizar en una muestra de 1214 jóvenes de 14 a 25 año...

Traffic accidents, sexually-transmitted diseases, unwanted pregnancies, drunkenness, and drug use (especially psychostimulants) are negative aspects associated with recreational nightlife. The aim of the present study is to analyze in a sample of 1214 young people (aged 15-25; 49.7% males, 50.3% females) whether psychostimulant users (cocaine and e...