Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies, Brown University School of Public Health, Providence, RI, USA.
Department of Psychiatry, HIV Neurobehavioral Research Program, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA.
Addict Behav. 2025 Jan;160:108147. doi: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2024.108147. Epub 2024 Sep 7.
Reducing the nicotine content in cigarettes decreases their addictiveness and abuse liability, including among adolescents. Whether these effects differ by race/ethnicity is unknown. This study is a secondary analysis of previously published data collected between 2014-2017. We examined racial/ethnic differences in the effects of smoking cigarettes with varying nicotine content levels on subjective effects and tobacco withdrawal among adolescents who smoke daily.
Across two counterbalanced sessions, 50 adolescents recruited from Rhode Island (ages 15-19; 30 % Underrepresented Minorities [URM], 20 % Asians and Pacific Islanders [API]; 50 % Non-Hispanic Whites) self-administered a very low nicotine content (VLNC; 0.4 mg nicotine/g of tobacco) or normal nicotine content control (NNC; 15.8 mg/g) research cigarette following overnight abstinence. Subjective effects were reported post-administration and tobacco withdrawal outcomes were calculated from pre- to post-administration scores. Multilevel linear models tested main and interactive effects between cigarette nicotine content and race/ethnicity on all study outcomes.
Participants reported lower positive subjective effects and reductions in smoking urges after smoking a VLNC cigarette relative to smoking an NNC cigarette (ps < 0.01). A main effect of race/ethnicity emerged, such that API (vs. URM and White) adolescents reported lower positive subjective effects, greater craving reduction, and higher cigarette aversion after smoking, regardless of nicotine content (ps < 0.05). Significant interactions were found between race/ethnicity and nicotine content for cigarette aversion, such that API adolescents rated VLNC (vs. NNC) cigarettes as less aversive than White and URM adolescents did (p = 0.03).
Findings provide evidence that VLNC cigarettes may reduce abuse liability and tobacco withdrawal symptoms for adolescents across racial/ethnic groups and particularly for API youth.
降低香烟中的尼古丁含量可以降低其成瘾性和滥用可能性，包括在青少年中。这些影响是否因种族/民族而异尚不清楚。本研究是对之前在 2014-2017 年间收集的数据进行的二次分析。我们研究了不同尼古丁含量水平的香烟对每天吸烟的青少年主观效应和烟草戒断的影响在不同种族/民族之间的差异。
在两个平衡的实验中，从罗得岛招募了 50 名年龄在 15-19 岁之间的青少年（30%为代表性不足的少数族裔[URM]，20%为亚洲人和太平洋岛民[API]；50%为非西班牙裔白人），在一夜禁吸后，他们分别吸食极低尼古丁含量（VLNC；0.4mg 尼古丁/克烟草）或正常尼古丁含量对照（NNC；15.8mg/g）的研究香烟。吸烟后报告主观效应，根据吸烟前和吸烟后的得分计算烟草戒断的结果。多水平线性模型测试了香烟尼古丁含量和种族/民族对所有研究结果的主效应和交互效应。
与吸食 NNC 香烟相比，参与者在吸食 VLNC 香烟后报告的积极主观效应较低，吸烟欲望降低（ps<0.01）。出现了种族/民族的主要效应，即 API（相对于 URM 和白人）青少年在吸食后报告的积极主观效应较低，渴望减少更多，对香烟的厌恶感更高，而与尼古丁含量无关（ps<0.05）。在对香烟的厌恶感方面，发现了种族/民族和尼古丁含量之间的显著交互作用，即 API 青少年对 VLNC（相对于 NNC）香烟的评价不如白人青少年和 URM 青少年那样厌恶（p=0.03）。
研究结果表明，VLNC 香烟可能降低不同种族/民族青少年的成瘾性和烟草戒断症状，特别是对 API 青少年。
