Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, One Gustave L. Levy Place, Box 1077, New York, NY 10029, United States; Hunter College, City University of New York, 695 Park Avenue, HN628, New York, NY 10065, United States.
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, One Gustave L. Levy Place, Box 1077, New York, NY 10029, United States.
Addict Behav. 2022 Jul;130:107293. doi: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2022.107293. Epub 2022 Feb 23.
Among the major impediments to successful smoking cessation are strong cravings, especially during times of heightened stress. Affective responses to stress (e.g., acute anxious and depressed mood) may serve as important mediators of cigarette cravings that are amenable to intervention. Experimental models have been developed to reliably induce cravings during stress under laboratory conditions, permitting a closer examination of possible changes in affect that may be driving cigarette cravings. A key limitation of the extant research is its reliance on samples of predominantly White males who smoke. Although several recent studies suggest possible gender- and race/ethnicity-based differences in affective responses to acute stress, no studies have explored how such differences may contribute to cigarette cravings.
To address this gap, we conducted an experimental study in which a diverse sample of healthy volunteer female (n = 163) and male (n = 139) nicotine-dependent individuals who smoked were exposed to a stressor (guided imagery of painful dental work). We assessed negative affect and cigarette craving immediately before and after the imaginal dental stressor.
Path analyses revealed that the acute stressor induced increases in negative affect, which, in turn, increased cigarette craving (significant direct and indirect effects, p's < 0.05; R = 0.5). Interestingly, effects were more pronounced in women and in non-White individuals who smoked.
Results highlight the important roles of stress and affect in craving, and the need to consider gender and race/ethnicity when developing interventions to manage stress-induced cigarette cravings among individuals attempting to quit.
在成功戒烟的主要障碍中，强烈的烟瘾尤其在压力大的时候更为突出。对压力的情绪反应（例如，急性焦虑和抑郁情绪）可能是可干预的香烟渴望的重要中介。实验模型已经被开发出来，可以在实验室条件下可靠地诱发压力下的烟瘾，从而更仔细地研究可能导致香烟渴望的情绪变化。现有研究的一个关键局限性是它依赖于主要由白人男性吸烟者组成的样本。尽管最近的几项研究表明，对急性压力的情绪反应可能存在性别和种族/民族差异，但没有研究探讨这些差异如何导致香烟渴望。
为了解决这一差距，我们进行了一项实验研究，其中包括 163 名健康的女性志愿者和 139 名男性尼古丁依赖者吸烟者，他们在想象的牙科工作中暴露于压力源。我们在想象牙科应激源之前和之后立即评估负性情绪和香烟渴望。
路径分析显示，急性应激源引起负性情绪增加，进而增加香烟渴望（直接和间接影响显著，p 值均<0.05；R=0.5）。有趣的是，这些影响在女性和吸烟的非白人个体中更为明显。
结果强调了压力和情绪在渴望中的重要作用，并且在开发干预措施来管理试图戒烟的个体因压力引起的香烟渴望时，需要考虑性别和种族/民族。
