title: Does smoking abstinence influence distress tolerance? An experimental study comparing the response to a breath-holding test of smokers under tobacco withdrawal and under nicotine replacement therapy.
abstract: Distress tolerance has been operationalized as task persistence in stressful behavioral laboratory tasks. According to the distress tolerance perspective, how an individual responds to discomfort/distress predicts early smoking lapses. This theory seems weakly supported by experimental studies since they are limited in number, show inconsistent results, do not include control conditions. We tested the response to a stressful task in smokers under abstinence and under no abstinence to verify if tobacco abstinence reduces task persistence, thus distress tolerance. A placebo-controlled, double-blind, randomized, cross-over design was used. Twenty smokers underwent a breath holding test after the administration of nicotine on one test day and a placebo on another test day. Physiological and psychological variables were assessed at baseline and directly before and after each challenge. Abstinence induced a statistically significant shorter breath holding duration relative to the nicotine condition. No different response to the breath holding test was observed when nicotine and placebo conditions were compared. No response to the breath holding test was found when pre- and post-test values of heart rate, blood pressure, Visual Analogue Scale for fear or discomfort were compared. In brief, tobacco abstinence reduces breath holding duration but breath holding test does not influence discomfort.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Sciences, University of Florence, via di San Salvi n. 12, Florence, Italy. Electronic address: fiammetta.cosci@unifi.it.
authors.forename: Fiammetta
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Cosci
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Sciences, University of Florence, via di San Salvi n. 12, Florence, Italy.
authors.forename: Giulia
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Anna Aldi
authors.affiliation: Panic & Respiration Laboratory, Institute of Psychiatry, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rua Visconde de Piraja, 407/702, Rio de Janeiro 22410-003, Brazil.
authors.forename: Antonio Egidio
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Nardi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D062485:Breath Holding; D018592:Cross-Over Studies; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009538:Nicotine / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D012907:Smoking / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D016540:Smoking Cessation / Q000379:methods / Q000523:psychology*; D013312:Stress, Physiological / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D013375:Substance Withdrawal Syndrome / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D013997:Time Factors; D014029:Tobacco Use Disorder / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D009538:Nicotine
keywords: Biological challenge; Discomfort; Stressful behavioral laboratory tasks