Interplay of dysphoria and anxiety sensitivity in relation to emotion regulatory cognitions of smoking among treatment-seeking smokers.
There is evidence that anxiety sensitivity (AS) plays a role in the maintenance of smoking, yet there is little understanding of how AS interplays with other affective symptomatology variables that are also related to smoking, such as dysphoria. Therefore, the current cross-sectional study evaluated the interactive effects of AS and dysphoria on emotion regulatory cognitions, including smoking negative affect reduction expectancies, perceived barriers for cessation, and smoking-specific experiential avoidance.



A total of 448 adult treatment-seeking daily smokers, who responded to study advertisements, were recruited to participate in a smoking cessation treatment trial (47.8% female; Mage  = 37.2, SD = 13.5). The current study utilized self-report baseline data from trial participants.



After accounting for covariates, simple slope analyses revealed that AS was positively related to negative affect reduction expectancies (β = .03, p = .01), perceived barriers to cessation (β = .22, p = .002), and smoking avoidance and inflexibility (β = .07, p = .04), among smokers with lower (vs. higher) levels of dysphoria.



The current findings suggest that higher levels of dysphoria may mitigate the relation between AS and emotion regulatory cognitions of smoking.



The current findings highlight the unique and additive clinical relevance of AS and dysphoria regarding emotion regulatory smoking cognitions that may impede quit success. (Am J Addict 2016;25:267-274).
Department of Psychology, University of Houston, Houston, Texas.
Lorra
L
Garey
Department of Psychology, University of Houston, Houston, Texas.
Jafar
J
Bakhshaie
Department of Psychology, University of Houston, Houston, Texas.
Charles P
CP
Brandt
Women's Health Sciences Division, National Center for PTSD, VA Boston Healthcare Center, Boston, Massachusetts.|Department of Psychiatry, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts.
Kirsten J
KJ
Langdon
Department of Psychology, University of Houston, Houston, Texas.
Brooke Y
BY
Kauffman
Department of Psychology, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida.
Norman B
NB
Schmidt
Departments of Preventive Medicine and Psychology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California.
Adam M
AM
Leventhal
Department of Psychology, University of Houston, Houston, Texas.|Department of Behavioral Sciences, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas.
Michael J
MJ
Zvolensky
D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003863:Depression / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D057566:Self Report; D012907:Smoking / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy; D016540:Smoking Cessation / Q000523:psychology; D014029:Tobacco Use Disorder / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy