An experimental test of the effect of acute anxious arousal and anxiety sensitivity on negative reinforcement smoking.
Although anxiety sensitivity has been reliably associated with smoking-anxiety comorbidity, there has not been a test of whether this construct moderates the effect of acute anxious arousal on actual smoking behavior. The present study utilized an experimental design to test the moderating role of anxiety sensitivity on laboratory-induced anxious arousal in terms of smoking urges and topography (puff style).



Participants were adult daily smokers (n=90; Mage=43.6 SD =9.7); average 15.8 cigarettes per day). A between-subjects design was used; participants were randomly assigned to complete a biological challenge procedure consisting of either a single vital capacity inhalation of 35% carbon dioxide (CO2)-enriched air mixture or compressed room air. Smoking urges and smoking topography (puff behavior) were assessed before and after the challenge.



Results revealed a significant interaction between anxiety sensitivity and experimental condition (b=-9.96, p=0.014), such that high anxiety sensitive smokers exposed to 35% CO2-enriched air reported significantly lower levels of smoking urges, relative to low anxiety sensitive smokers; the conditional effect of anxiety sensitivity was not observed for the room air condition. There were no significant interaction effects of experimental manipulation by anxiety sensitivity for any of the smoking topography outcomes.



The present results suggest for smokers with higher levels of anxiety sensitivity, the acute experience of anxious arousal is related to decreased subjective smoking urges. These data invite future research to explore the reasons for dampened smoking urges, including cardiorespiratory symptom severity.
Department of Psychology, University of Houston, Houston, TX, USA Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, RI, USA sgfarris@uh.edu.
Samantha G
SG
Farris
Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, RI, USA Department of Behavioral Science, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA.
Michael J
MJ
Zvolensky
D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety / Q000139:chemically induced*; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000139:chemically induced*; D001143:Arousal / Q000187:drug effects*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012054:Reinforcement, Psychology; D012907:Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects*; D014029:Tobacco Use Disorder / Q000523:psychology*
Puff topography; biological challenge; panic; smoking motivation