title: Nicotine dependence, "background" and cue-induced craving and smoking in the laboratory.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Nicotine dependence has been associated with higher "background" craving and smoking, independent of situational cues. Due in part to conceptual and methodological differences across past studies, the relationship between dependence and cue-reactivity (CR; e.g., cue-induced craving and smoking) remains unclear.
  
  
  METHODS
  207 daily smokers completed six pictorial CR sessions (smoking, negative affect, positive affect, alcohol, smoking prohibitions, and neutral). Individuals rated craving before (background craving) and after cues, and could smoke following cue exposure. Session videos were coded to assess smoking. Participants completed four nicotine dependence measures. Regression models assessed the relationship of dependence to cue-independent (i.e., pre-cue) and cue-specific (i.e., pre-post cue change for each cue, relative to neutral) craving and smoking (likelihood of smoking, latency to smoke, puff count).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Dependence was associated with background craving and smoking, but did not predict change in craving across the entire sample for any cue. Among alcohol drinkers, dependence was associated with greater increases in craving following the alcohol cue. Only one dependence measure (Wisconsin Inventory of Smoking Dependence Motives) was consistently associated with smoking reactivity (higher likelihood of smoking, shorter latency to smoke, greater puff count) in response to cues.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  While related to cue-independent background craving and smoking, dependence is not strongly associated with laboratory cue-induced craving under conditions of minimal deprivation. Dependence measures that incorporate situational influences on smoking correlate with greater cue-provoked smoking. This may suggest independent roles for CR and traditional dependence as determinants of smoking, and highlights the importance of assessing behavioral CR outcomes.
authors.affiliation: Smoking Research Group, Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, 130 N. Bellefield Avenue, Suite 510, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA. Electronic address: msd13@pitt.edu.
authors.forename: Michael S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Dunbar
authors.affiliation: Smoking Research Group, Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, 130 N. Bellefield Avenue, Suite 510, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA.
authors.forename: Saul
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shiffman
authors.affiliation: Schroeder Institute for Tobacco Research and Policy Studies, 1724 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20036, USA.
authors.forename: Thomas R
authors.initials: TR
authors.lastname: Kirchner
authors.affiliation: Division of General Internal Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, 230 McKee Place, Suite 600, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA.
authors.forename: Hilary A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Tindle
authors.affiliation: Smoking Research Group, Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, 130 N. Bellefield Avenue, Suite 510, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA.
authors.forename: Sarah M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Scholl
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect; D000368:Aged; D016739:Behavior, Addictive / Q000523:psychology; D066249:Craving; D003463:Cues; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012907:Smoking / Q000523:psychology*; D014029:Tobacco Use Disorder / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Craving; Cue-reactivity; Dependence; Smoking