title: Reward dependence moderates smoking-cue- and stress-induced cigarette cravings.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Cigarette cravings following exposure to smoking cues in a smoker's environment are thought to play an important role in cessation failure. The possibility that dispositional factors may impact cue-induced cravings, though intriguing, has received little attention. According to Cloninger's Tridimensional Personality Theory, factors such as reward dependence (RD), harm avoidance (HA), and novelty seeking (NS) may figure prominently in risk for addiction, as well as relapse, in individuals attempting to abstain from drug and alcohol use. Particularly interesting in this regard is the possibility that smokers with higher levels of RD, who are especially sensitive to reward signals, will have heightened craving reactions to smoking cues.
  
  
  METHODS
  To that end, non-treatment-seeking nicotine dependent smokers (n=96, mean age=41.1, 47% African American, 17% Caucasian, 22% Hispanic, 19.3cigs/day, FTND=7.5) underwent a classic experimental cue-induction, during which they were exposed to imagery of: (1) smoking, (2) neutral, and (3) stress cues, and reported their cigarette cravings (0-100) before and after each exposure. Participants also completed the Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Not surprisingly, smoking and stress cues (but not neutral cues) elicited significant elevations in craving (p's<0.0001). Consistent with study hypothesis, smokers who scored higher on RD had stronger craving reactions to both smoking cues (p<.02) and stress cues (p<.03).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Findings raise the possibility that dispositional characteristics, in particular, reward dependence, influence smoking by potentiating reactions to environmental smoking cues. Furthermore, the similar effects of RD on stress-induced craving suggest that both cue-and stress-induced cravings may be influenced by a common underlying disposition.
authors.affiliation: Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY, United States.
authors.forename: Alexandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Michalowski
authors.affiliation: Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY, United States; City University of New York, Hunter College, New York, NY, United States. Electronic address: jerblich@hunter.cuny.edu.
authors.forename: Joel
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Erblich
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016739:Behavior, Addictive / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D015897:Comorbidity; D066249:Craving; D003463:Cues; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009518:New York / Q000453:epidemiology; D012201:Reward; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Craving; Cues; Reward dependence; Smoking