Momentary Minority Stress, Nicotine Use, and Craving: Moderation by Nicotine-Use Motives Among Sexual Minority Youth.

OBJECTIVE

This pre-registered analysis aimed to examine the moderating role of nicotine-use motives on the association between minority stress and nicotine use and craving among sexual minority youth.

METHOD

Data stem from a 30-day ecological momentary assessment study conducted among 83 sexual minority youth ages 15-19 years old ( age = 17.96,  = 1.10; 56.63% cisgender women; 73.5% non-Hispanic White). Participants were instructed to complete at least four assessments per day on wireless devices. Two types of multilevel models were estimated: models predicting day-level nicotine use and models predicting momentary nicotine use craving.

RESULTS

Experiencing minority stressors was not associated with day-level nicotine use, but it was associated with greater momentary nicotine craving. Nicotine use-motives did not moderate the association between minority stress and nicotine use. In contrast, stress-reduction motives, assessed as a person-level trait, moderated the association between minority stress and nicotine craving, such that nicotine craving after experiencing a minority stressor was consistently higher relative to when minority stress had not been reported. Sensitivity analyses that examined associations between minority stress and nicotine use on a given day, regardless of temporal order, showed that minority stress was associated with higher odds of nicotine use on that day.

CONCLUSIONS

Experiencing minority stressors did not predict day-level nicotine use but does contribute to greater momentary nicotine craving, informing minority stress theory. Consistency of the minority stress and nicotine craving relation, largely regardless of trait-level motives, highlights the potential context dependence of nicotine craving among sexual minority youth.: This study was preregistered at osf.io/w5sz9.