title: Posttraumatic stress and emotion dysregulation: Relationships with smoking to reduce negative affect and barriers to smoking cessation.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Many cigarette smokers have experienced a traumatic event, and elevated posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) are associated with increased smoking levels. Previous research has found that elevated PTSS are associated with smoking to cope with negative affect, and it has been posited that perceptions of being unable to cope with the consequences of smoking cessation interfere with smoking cessation in this population. However, the mechanism of the relationship between PTSS and these smoking maintenance factors (i.e., smoking to reduce negative affect and barriers to cessation) has not been established. Emotion dysregulation is one potential mechanism as it is associated with PTSS as well as addictive behavior aimed at avoiding and reducing negative emotional states.
  
  
  METHODS
  We cross-sectionally tested the hypotheses that 1) PTSS and emotion dysregulation would be incrementally associated with smoking to reduce negative affect and barriers to cessation, and 2) that emotion dysregulation would mediate the relationships between PTSS, smoking to reduce negative affect, and barriers to cessation among a community sample of trauma-exposed individuals presenting for smoking cessation treatment (N=315).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Results demonstrated that elevated PTSS were associated with increased smoking to reduce negative affect and barriers to cessation, and that emotion dysregulation mediated these relationships.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings provide evidence of a mechanism between PTSS and psychological smoking maintenance factors, and suggest that emotion dysregulation may be a useful target for smoking cessation interventions among trauma-exposed individuals.
authors.affiliation: Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, USA.
authors.forename: Nicole A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Short
authors.affiliation: Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, USA.
authors.forename: Mary E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Oglesby
authors.affiliation: Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, USA.
authors.forename: Amanda M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Raines
authors.affiliation: University of Houston, Houston, TX, USA; University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Michael J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Zvolensky
authors.affiliation: Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, USA. Electronic address: schmidt@psy.fsu.edu.
authors.forename: Norman B
authors.initials: NB
authors.lastname: Schmidt
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012907:Smoking / Q000523:psychology*; D016540:Smoking Cessation / Q000523:psychology*; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000523:psychology*