Elsevier

Addictive Behaviors

Volume 21, Issue 2, March–April 1996, Pages 139-154
Addictive Behaviors

Reactivity to smoking cues: Mediating roles of nicotine dependence and duration of deprivation,☆☆

https://doi.org/10.1016/0306-4603(95)00043-7Get rights and content

Abstract

This study examined the roles of nicotine dependence and duration of smoking deprivation as mediators of smoking cue reactivity in 117 individuals enrolled in treatment. Participants were randomly assigned to 15, 90, or 180 min of deprivation; all were exposed to smoking cues (observing a research assistant smoke a cigarette) while a variety of self-report, behavioral, and psychophysiological measurements were obtained. Results indicated that in general, psychophysiological reactivity to smoking-relevant cues was greater with increasing deprivation; heart rate analysis revealed an interaction between nicotine dependence and duration of deprivation, Smoking desire, negative affect, physical withdrawal symptoms, and other ratings were interrelated during cue exposure, and generally demonstrated predicted relationships with the independent variables. Multiple regression analysis revealed that desire to smoke during cue exposure was predicted by a combination of psychophysiological, self-report, and demographic variables. These findings have implications for methodological considerations and theoretical underpinnings of smoking cue reactivity research.

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  • Cited by (0)

    This research was supported by a Department of Veterans Affairs Research Advisory Group grant awarded to the first author.

    ☆☆

    Special thanks to Elaine McElroy, Sue Ann Grubbs, and Betty Collier for their assistance in the implementation of this project, to David Abrams and Raymond Niaura for their valuable consultation, and to Cheryl Johnson for her editorial assistance.

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