Department of Behavioral and Social Sciences, School of Public Health, Brown University.
Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Arizona.
Exp Clin Psychopharmacol. 2023 Dec;31(6):1023-1031. doi: 10.1037/pha0000662. Epub 2023 Aug 3.
High smoking prevalence and low quit smoking rates among African American adults are well-documented, but poorly understood. We tested a transdisciplinary theoretical model of psychopharmacological-social mechanisms underlying smoking among African American adults. This model proposes that nicotine's acute attention-filtering effects may enhance smoking's addictiveness in populations unduly exposed to discrimination, like African American adults, because nicotine reduces the extent to which discrimination-related stimuli capture attention, and in turn, generate distress. During nicotine deprivation, attentional biases toward discrimination may be unmasked and exacerbated, which may induce distress and perpetuate smoking. To test this model, this within-subject laboratory experiment determined whether attentional bias toward racial discrimination stimuli was amplified by nicotine deprivation in African American adults who smoked daily. Participants ( = 344) completed a computerized modified Stroop task assessing attentional interference from racial discrimination-related words during two counterbalanced sessions (nicotine sated vs. overnight nicotine deprived). The task required participants to quickly name the color of discrimination and matched neutral words. Word Type (Discrimination vs. Neutral) × Pharmacological State (Nicotine Deprived vs. Sated) effects on color naming reaction times were examined. Attentional bias toward racial discrimination-related stimuli was amplified in nicotine deprived (reaction time to discrimination minus neutral stimuli: [95%CI] = 34.69 [29.62, 39.76] ms; = 0.15) compared to sated ( [95%CI] = 24.88 [19.84, 29.91] ms; = 0.11) conditions (Word Type × Pharmacological State, < .0001). The impact of nicotine deprivation on attentional processes in the context of adverse societal conditions merit consideration in future science and intervention addressing smoking in African American adults. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).
美国非裔成年人吸烟率高、戒烟率低，这一现象已被充分记录，但尚未得到充分理解。我们测试了一个跨学科的理论模型，该模型旨在解释非裔成年人吸烟的心理药理学和社会机制。该模型提出，尼古丁的急性注意力过滤效应可能会增强尼古丁在过度暴露于歧视环境（如美国非裔成年人）中的成瘾性，因为尼古丁减少了与歧视相关的刺激物吸引注意力的程度，并进而产生压力。在尼古丁剥夺期间，对歧视的注意力偏见可能会被揭示和加剧，这可能会导致压力并使吸烟行为持续。为了验证该模型，本研究通过一项单组实验室实验，确定了在每日吸烟的美国非裔成年人中，尼古丁剥夺是否会放大对种族歧视刺激的注意力偏见。参与者（n = 344）在两个平衡的实验条件（尼古丁满足和一夜尼古丁剥夺）下完成了一项计算机化的改良 Stroop 任务，以评估对与种族歧视相关的单词的注意力干扰。任务要求参与者快速命名歧视和匹配中性单词的颜色。检验了单词类型（歧视与中性）与药物状态（尼古丁剥夺与满足）对颜色命名反应时的影响。与尼古丁满足相比，尼古丁剥夺时对种族歧视相关刺激的注意力偏见增强（歧视与中性刺激之间的反应时差异：[95%CI] = 34.69 [29.62, 39.76] ms；[95%CI] = 24.88 [19.84, 29.91] ms；[95%CI] = 0.11）（[95%CI] = 0.15）（单词类型×药物状态，<0.0001）。在未来关于非裔美国人吸烟的科学和干预研究中，应考虑尼古丁剥夺对社会不利环境下注意力过程的影响。
