SMOKING AND AROUSAL

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This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. Previous studies have reported that stress increases both subjective desire to smoke and cigarette smoking behavior in both naturalistic and laboratory settings. In this study we investigate the effects of acute social stress on cigarette smoking in 40 male and 40 female smokers. We examine these effects after 18h abstinence as well as after ad-lib smoking. Specifically, we will investigate a) the subjective effects of a single cigarette and, b) the number of cigarettes smoked. We hypothesize that stress will decrease ratings of satisfaction after smoking and increase the number of cigarettes smoked in an ad-lib smoking period. We further hypothesize that these effects will be greater in women than in men, and in the abstinent condition compared to the ad-lib smoking condition. We will also examine the relationship of stress responses and genetic factors. Subjects are randomly assigned to the ad-lib (N=40) or smoking abstinence condition (N=40), and participate in two sessions. On one session, they undergo an acutely stressful task (the Trier Social Stress Test, or TSST), followed by a 100 min smoking period. During the other session, they relax for 20 minutes before the 100 min smoking period. During the smoking period, subjects have 10 opportunities to either smoke half-length cigarettes of their normal brand or receive the (predetermined) equivalent amount of money (in tokens) that they feel the cigarette is worth to them. The primary outcome measures will be number of cigarettes smoked in the 90 min period, and CO boost. We hypothesize that subjects will smoke more after stress, and that this effect will be more pronounced in women and after abstinence. Mood questionnaires (VAS, POMS) are also given to measure the subjective effects of stress.