Examining factors that influence the uptake of smoking in women

[Evolution of Smoking According to Social Class in the Adult Population of the Canary Islands During 2000-2015: Follow-up of the CDC-Canary Cohort]

Objetivo

Conocer la evolución del consumo de tabaco en Canarias durante 2000-2015 según clase social.

Emplazamiento

Comunidad Autónoma de Canarias.

Participantes

Cohorte CDC-Canarias con cortes en 2000 (n = 6.729), 2008 (n = 6.171) y 2015 (n = 4.705).

Mediciones principales

Tabaquismo, sexo, edad y clase social.

Resultados

El consumo disminuyó un 6% (5-7%, p < 0,001) en general, siendo más acentuado en el periodo 2000-2008 (5%). La disminución fue mayor en hombres, aunque siguieron fumando más que las mujeres, con una prevalencia del 25% (24-26%) frente al 18% (17-19%, p < 0,001). Solo hubo una disminución del consumo en los grupos jóvenes (6% [3-5%]; p = 0,011) y de edades intermedias (7% [6-8%]; p < 0,001). En todas las clases sociales se observó una disminución similar, con mayor prevalencia de tabaquismo en la clase alta: 24% (23-25%) en 2015 (p < 0,001). Al valorar conjuntamente sexo, edad y clase social, los hombres más jóvenes y de edad intermedia presentaron los mayores descensos de consumo: 8% (7-9%) clase baja y alta, 10% (9-11%) clase media. En la clase social baja, las mujeres más jóvenes continúan fumando más (27%) aunque abandonaron más el consumo (14%), fenómeno que en las de clase media se produjo en edades intermedias.

Conclusiones

La evolución del consumo de tabaco en Canarias sigue un patrón similar al conjunto de España. El abandono del consumo de tabaco se ha frenado en el periodo 2008-2015, especialmente en hombres y en clases sociales medias y altas.

The association of dehydroepiandrosterone and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate with anxiety sensitivity and electronic diary negative affect among smokers with and without posttraumatic stress disorder

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is associated with increased smoking initiation, maintenance, and relapse. Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and DHEA sulfate (DHEAS) are neurosteroids that have been associated with mood measures as well as smoking status, and nicotine is associated with increased DHEA and DHEAS levels. Given the difficulties with mood experienced by smokers with PTSD, the purpose of the current study was to evaluate the association between negative affect and anxiety sensitivity with DHEA and DHEAS levels. Ninety-six smokers with and without PTSD provided blood samples for neurosteroid analyses and completed self-report measures of anxiety sensitivity and electronic diary ratings of negative affect. As expected, PTSD smokers reported higher levels of anxiety sensitivity (F(1,94) = 20.67, partial η2 = 0.18, P < 0.0001) and negative affect (F(1,91) = 7.98, partial η2 = 0.08, P = 0.006). After accounting for age and sex, DHEAS was significantly inversely associated with both anxiety sensitivity (F(3,92) = 6.97, partial η2 = 0.07, P = 0.01) and negative affect (F(3,87) = 10.52, partial η2 = 0.11, P = 0.002) across groups. Effect sizes indicated that these effects are moderate to high. No significant interactions of diagnosis and DHEA(S) levels with mood measures were detected. Given that nicotine is known to elevate DHEA(S) levels, these results suggest that DHEAS may serve as a biomarker of the association between mood and nicotine among smokers. Implications for the results include (1) the use of DHEAS measurement across time and across quit attempts and (2) the potential for careful use of DHEA supplementation to facilitate abstinence during smoking cessation.

Sex, ADHD symptoms, and smoking outcomes: an integrative model

Both females and individuals with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) have been found to be at increased risk for a range of smoking outcomes, and recent empirical findings have suggested that women with ADHD may be particularly vulnerable to nicotine dependence. On a neurobiological level, the dopamine reward processing system may be implicated in the potentially unique interaction of nicotine with sex and with ADHD status. Specifically, nicotine appears to mitigate core ADHD symptoms through interaction with the dopamine reward processing system, and ovarian hormones have been found to interact with nicotine within the dopamine reward processing system to affect neurotransmitter release and functioning. This article synthesizes data from research examining smoking in women and in individuals with ADHD to build an integrative model through which unique risk for cigarette smoking in women with ADHD can be systematically explored. Based upon this model, the following hypotheses are proposed at the intersection of each of the three variables of sex, ADHD, and smoking: (1) individuals with ADHD have altered functioning of the dopamine reward system, which diminishes their ability to efficiently form conditioned associations based on environmental contingencies; these deficits are partially ameliorated by nicotine; (2) nicotine interacts with estrogen and the dopamine reward system to increase the positive and negative reinforcement value of smoking in female smokers; (3) in adult females with ADHD, ovarian hormones interact with the dopamine reward system to exacerbate ADHD-related deficits in the capacity to form conditioned associations; and (4) during different phases of the menstrual cycle, nicotine and ovarian hormones may interact differentially with the dopamine reward processing system to affect the type and value of reinforcement smoking provides for women with ADHD. Understanding the bio-behavioral mechanisms underlying cigarette addiction in specific populations will be critical to developing effectively tailored smoking prevention and cessation programs for these groups. Overall, the goal of this paper is to examine the interaction of sex, smoking, and ADHD status within the context of the dopamine reward processing system not only to elucidate potential mechanisms specific to female smokers with ADHD, but also to stimulate consideration of how the examination of such individual differences can inform our understanding of smoking more broadly.