title: An evaluation of the role of smoking context on a biobehavioral index of distress tolerance.
abstract: The present study evaluated the effect of smoking deprivation on a biobehavioral index of distress tolerance, breath-holding duration, among 43 adult smokers in a repeated measures test (Session 1=smoking-as-usual, Session 2=12-h smoking deprivation). We theorized that distress tolerance is a context-dependent individual difference variable whose expression varies prospectively, within-individuals, as a function of smoking context. As predicted, participants' breath-holding duration was significantly shorter during an experimental session that immediately followed a 12-h smoking deprivation period than during a smoking-as-usual session. Furthermore, we theorized that among individuals with a pre-existing diathesis (i.e., psychiatric symptoms), smoking deprivation may activate a vulnerability process that decreases capacity to tolerate distress; in the absence of this stressor, these psychiatrically vulnerable smokers may express variable levels of distress tolerance. As predicted, we observed that level of psychiatric symptoms was significantly negatively correlated with breath-holding duration during the smoking deprivation, but not the smoking-as-usual session. These data advance our understanding of smoking and distress tolerance and the context-dependent phenomenology of distress tolerance.
authors.affiliation: Center for Health Care Evaluation, Department of Veterans Affairs, Palo Alto Health Care System, United States; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, United States. Electronic address: Amit.Bernstein@stanford.edu.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bernstein
authors.affiliation: Center for Health Care Evaluation, Department of Veterans Affairs, Palo Alto Health Care System, United States; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, United States.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Trafton
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterans Affairs Ann Arbor, Serious Mental Illness Treatment, Research, and Evaluation Center, United States; Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan, United States.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ilgen
authors.affiliation: University of Vermont, United States.
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Zvolensky
mesh_terms: D016739:Behavior, Addictive / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology*; D001944:Breath Tests / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010352:Patient Dropouts / Q000523:psychology; D012907:Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000523:psychology*; D016540:Smoking Cessation / Q000523:psychology; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology*; D013375:Substance Withdrawal Syndrome / Q000523:psychology*; D013732:Test Anxiety Scale