Smoking Consequences Questionnaire: A reevaluation of the psychometric properties across two independent samples of smokers

Anxiety sensitivity in relation to smoking dependence motives among Latinx persons who smoke

Hispanic/Latinx (hereafter Latinx) persons are an established tobacco disparities population in the United States (US). Past work has suggested that individual differences in anxiety sensitivity, or the fear of arousal-based sensations, is one important cognitive construct for smoking maintenance and relapse among Latinx persons who smoke. However, previous research has not examined if anxiety sensitivity is associated with motivational facets of smoking dependence among this tobacco disparities population. In the current study, anxiety sensitivity was explored in terms of smoking motives for primary, secondary, and overall cigarette dependence. Participants included 336 English-speaking Latinx adults in the US who smoked cigarettes daily (Mage = 35.53, SD = 8.65, 37.3% Female). Results indicated that anxiety sensitivity was statistically significantly and positively related to higher primary and secondary dependence motives and marginally statistically significant to cigarette dependence; findings were evident after adjusting for numerous theoretically relevant variables (e.g., depression). Overall, the current study is the first to document linkages between anxiety sensitivity and numerous motivational bases of tobacco dependence among Latinx persons who smoke from the US.

Anxiety-related constructs and smoking outcome expectancies among Latinx smokers

Hispanic/Latinx (hereafter Latinx) smokers in the United States (US) experience unique smoking cessation-related challenges. Smoking outcome expectancies (i.e., positive and negative beliefs about the consequences of smoking behavior) have been linked to the maintenance of smoking and comorbidity with negative emotional states such as anxiety among Latinx smokers. However, past work has not characterized rates of probable anxiety disorder and elevated levels of anxiety sensitivity among English-speaking daily Latinx smokers from the United States or concurrently evaluated the explanatory relevance of anxiety symptoms and anxiety sensitivity for negative and positive smoking outcome expectancies. The present investigation sought to (a) determine the base rate of probable anxiety disorder and elevated anxiety sensitivity and (b) explore the unique roles of anxiety symptoms and anxiety sensitivity in relation to negative and positive smoking outcome expectancies. Participants included 338 English-speaking Latinx adult daily cigarette smokers from the United States (Mage = 35.53 years; SD = 8.65; age range 18-61; 37.3% female). Findings revealed high rates of probable anxiety disorder (50.9%) and elevated anxiety sensitivity (73.4%) among English-speaking Latinx smokers from the United States. Anxiety sensitivity, but not anxiety symptoms or disorders, was significantly related to negative consequences, negative reinforcement, positive reinforcement, and appetite/weight control smoking outcome expectancies. Overall, anxiety experiences were common among Latinx smokers, and anxiety sensitivity was a relatively more consistent and robust predictor of negative and positive outcome expectancies relative to anxiety symptoms and probable anxiety disorder. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Perceived Racial/Ethnic Discrimination and Smoking Outcome Expectancies among Adult Latinx Smokers Living in the United States

Background: Smoking-related health disparities are prevalent in the Latinx community in the United States (US). Although Social Determinants of Health (SDoH) are known to contribute to a myriad of health problems among the Latinx population, there is relatively limited work expressly aimed at elucidating SDoH among Latinx smokers. Perceived racial/ethnic discrimination is one SDoH construct that may be especially relevant to understanding smoking-related cognition for Latinx smokers in the US. Smoking outcome expectancies, reflecting beliefs about the consequences of smoking, are established cognitive processes that have been linked to the maintenance and relapse of smoking. The purpose of the present work is to investigate perceived racial/ethnic discrimination in relation to smoking outcome expectancies amongst Latinx smokers in the US. Method: Participants included 338 English-speaking Latinx adult daily cigarette smokers from the US (Mage = 35.5 years; SD = 8.65; age range 18-61; 37.3% female). Results: Results indicated that perceived racial/ethnic discrimination was related to greater levels of negative reinforcement, positive reinforcement, and appetite-weight control expectancies, but not negative consequences expectancies. Discussion: Overall, the current findings provide novel insight into the relationship between perceived racial/ethnic discrimination and smoking outcome expectancies amongst English-speaking Latinx cigarette users in the US.

The synergetic effect of alcohol consumption and cigarettes per day on smoking outcomes expectancies among Latinx adult smokers

The present study investigated alcohol consumption and cigarettes per day in relation to smoking outcome expectancies among Spanish-speaking Latinx daily smokers (N = 371). There was a significant interaction between alcohol consumption and number of cigarettes per day on positive smoking expectancies. Specifically, alcohol consumption has a stronger association with positive expectancies for smoking at lower rates of cigarettes per day. No such interaction was evident for negative consequence smoking expectancies. The current study highlights the potential importance of alcohol consumption and smoking rate for better understanding smoking outcome expectancies among Latinx smokers.

Integrated Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Anxiety and Smoking Cessation

Smokers suffer from high rates of anxiety disorders, presumably because some individuals with anxiety disorders rely on smoking as a maladaptive attempt to manage anxiety. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is an efficacious smoking cessation treatment, yet outcomes are worse for patients with elevated anxiety. The integration of CBT for smoking cessation with False Safety Behavior Elimination Therapy (FSET) may be useful with anxious smoking cessation patients, as smoking to manage anxiety and associated negative affect can be targeted as a false safety behavior (i.e., behavior aimed at decreasing anxiety in the short-term but which may maintain or exacerbate it in the long-term). Here, we describe the integrated treatment, Treatment for Anxiety and Smoking Cessation (TASC), and the successful use of it with two smoking cessation patients—one with comorbid generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and one with clinically elevated social anxiety that did not meet diagnostic threshold for an anxiety disorder. Data support the feasibility of TASC as a viable approach to smoking cessation treatment for patients with comorbid anxiety disorder and with elevated anxiety that does not meet diagnostic threshold. Future controlled trials are now warranted to further evaluate the intervention.

Health-risk Behaviors and Type 1 Diabetes Outcomes in the Transition from Late Adolescence to Early Emerging Adulthood

This study examined within- and between-person associations between health-risk behaviors (smoking, drinking, insulin withholding) and type 1 diabetes (T1D) outcomes (adherence and HbA1c) during the high-risk transition from late adolescence to early emerging adulthood utilizing a 2-year longitudinal study. Beginning in the senior year of high school, participants (n = 197) with T1D completed measures of health-risk behaviors, adherence, and HbA1c annually at three time points. Health-risk behaviors were associated with poorer diabetes outcomes during the transition from late adolescence to early emerging adulthood. These results highlight the importance of monitoring health-risk behaviors regularly and intervening to reduce health-risk behaviors during this important developmental transition.

Situational fears: Association with negative affect-related smoking cognition among treatment seeking smokers

Despite the consistent clinically-significant relation between smoking and anxiety and its disorders, there is limited understanding of how specific fears relate to smoking processes. To isolate therapeutic targets for smoking-anxiety treatment development, there is a need to identify the underlying situational fears most related to smoking processes. Thus, the present study examined the association between interoceptive, agoraphobic, and social fears in terms of clinically significant negative affect-related smoking cognitions including negative affect reduction expectancies, coping motives, and perceived internal barriers to cessation. Participants were 469 treatment seeking smokers (48.2% female, Mage = 36.59, SD = 13.58) enrolled in a smoking cessation trial and completed baseline measures of smoking cognitions and situational fears. Results indicated that the there was a significant effect for social fears, relative to interoceptive and agoraphobic fears, for each of the studied clinically relevant smoking variables. Overall, this study offers initial empirical evidence that social fears are significantly and consistently related to several clinically-significant types of smoking cognition.

Sex differences in smoking constructs and abstinence: The explanatory role of smoking outcome expectancies

Scientific evidence suggests women experience more severe problems when attempting to quit smoking relative to men. Yet, little work has examined potential explanatory variables that maintain sex differences in clinically relevant smoking processes. Smoking outcome expectancies have demonstrated sex differences and associative relations with the smoking processes and behavior, including problems when attempting to quit, smoking-specific experiential avoidance, perceived barriers to quitting, and smoking abstinence. Thus, expectancies about the consequences of smoking may explain sex differences across these variables. Accordingly, the current study examined the explanatory role of smoking-outcome expectancies (e.g., long-term negative consequences, immediate negative consequences, sensory satisfaction, negative affect reduction, and appetite weight control) in models of sex differences across cessation-related problems, smoking-specific experiential avoidance, perceived barriers to quitting, and smoking abstinence. Participants included 450 (48.4% female; Mage = 37.45, SD = 13.50) treatment-seeking adult smokers. Results indicated that sex had an indirect effect on problems when attempting to quit smoking through immediate negative consequences and negative affect reduction expectancies; on smoking-specific experiential avoidance through long-term negative consequences, immediate negative consequences, and negative affect reduction expectancies; on barriers to quitting through negative affect reduction expectancies; and on abstinence through appetite weight control expectancies. The current findings suggest that sex differences in negative affect reduction expectancies and negative consequences expectancies may serve to maintain maladaptive smoking processes, whereas appetite weight control expectancies may promote short-term abstinence. These findings provide initial evidence for the conceptual role of smoking expectancies as potential "linking variables" for sex differences in smoking variables. (PsycINFO Database Record