title: Personality, psychiatric disorders, and smoking in middle-aged adults.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  A number of personality traits have been associated with cigarette smoking. Current smokers generally show higher levels of negative emotionality and lower levels of behavioral constraint than former smokers and those who never smoked. However, prior investigations have not examined thoroughly whether these smoking-personality associations are unique to smoking status or simply reflect the fact that these personality traits tend to be elevated across numerous forms of psychopathology. Likewise, prior studies have not addressed whether personality shows differential associations with smoking based on the presence or absence of lifetime psychiatric disorders.
  
  
  METHODS
  The present study examined these questions using data from 472 current, 311 former, and 324 never-smokers aged 34-44 years.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Current smokers reported being more reactive to stress, more aggressive, more alienated, and less harm avoidant than both former smokers and never-smokers, whereas former smokers and never-smokers showed similar personality profiles overall. Psychiatric disorder history did not interact with smoking status in predicting personality. Controlling for differences in four major lifetime psychiatric disorders (major depression, alcohol dependence, drug dependence, and conduct disorder) reduced the differences in personality traits associated with smoking status. However, smoking status continued to relate uniquely and significantly to higher levels of negative emotionality and behavioral under control with the most robust effect observed for trait alienation.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results provide the most comprehensive depiction to date of interrelations among personality, psychopathology, and smoking and suggest an important role of personality in smoking that is not redundant with or conditional upon lifetime psychopathology.
authors.affiliation: Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies, Brown University, Box G-S121-5, Providence, RI 02912, USA. christopher_kahler@brown.edu
authors.forename: Christopher W
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Kahler
authors.forename: Stacey B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Daughters
authors.forename: Adam M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Leventhal
authors.forename: Michelle L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Rogers
authors.forename: Melissa A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Clark
authors.forename: Suzanne M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Colby
authors.forename: Julie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Boergers
authors.forename: Susan E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Ramsey
authors.forename: David B
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Abrams
authors.forename: Raymond
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Niaura
authors.forename: Stephen L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Buka
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000453:epidemiology; D015897:Comorbidity; D003674:Defense Mechanisms; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010551:Personality; D010554:Personality Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012307:Risk Factors; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016540:Smoking Cessation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*