title: Socioeconomic status and the reward value of smoking following tobacco abstinence: a laboratory study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Socioeconomic status (SES) indicators are robustly associated with smoking behaviors. Yet, the psychological mechanisms underlying relations are unclear. This study merged the socioecological construct of SES with laboratory psychological science to investigate how income, education, and employment status predicted the reward value of smoking following tobacco abstinence among a diverse sample of adult daily smokers. We hypothesized that participants with lower SES (i.e., less education, lower income, and unemployed) would experience greater abstinence-induced enhancement of the reward value of smoking.
  
  
  METHODS
  Adult smokers (N = 240; 68.7% male; 51.7% Black, 33.8% White, 7.1% Latino, and 7.5% other) attended 2 laboratory sessions (1 nonabstinent and 1 following 16-hr tobacco abstinence) involving behavioral assessment of (a) latency to smoking when delaying smoking was monetarily rewarded and (b) purchasing individual cigarettes. Generalized estimating equations were used to test the interaction between each SES variable (education, income, and employment) and abstinence state to illustrate whether participants with certain SES characteristics were more sensitive to the abstinence-induced enhancement of the relative reward value of smoking.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Participants who never attended college (vs. college attendees) exhibited greater abstinence-induced enhancement of the reward value of smoking, which was indicated by reduced willingness to delay smoking for money (ps = .03). Income and employment status did not moderate abstinence effects.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Less-educated smokers were particularly motivated to smoke during acute abstinence. Observed educational disparities in smoking behaviors and smoking cessation might reflect a biased valuation of immediate drug-related (over less immediate alternative) rewards. Future research should explore potential mediators of this association.
authors.affiliation: Department of Educational Psychology, College of Education, University of Houston, Houston, TX; lrreitzel@uh.edu.
authors.forename: Lorraine R
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: Reitzel
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine, University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA; Department of Psychology, University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA.
authors.forename: Adam M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Leventhal
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009042:Motivation; D012201:Reward; D012907:Smoking / Q000191:economics* / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy; D016540:Smoking Cessation / Q000191:economics* / Q000379:methods / Q000523:psychology*; D012923:Social Class