Measuring young adult appeal for menthol cigarettes using laboratory and intensive longitudinal methods

7.项目总结/摘要 本R01提案响应RFA-OD-17中的优先研究领域#2（成瘾）和#4（行为）- 013并试图解决薄荷醇吸烟研究中的几个局限性。尽管FDA禁止 作为香烟中的特征风味，消费者仍然可以买到薄荷醇香烟。薄荷醇的实验 香烟与青年和年轻人中常规吸烟和尼古丁依赖的进展有关（YAs， 在此定义为18 - 24岁）1 - 5岁，是烟草使用者中的一个弱势群体。一个关键的未解之谜是， 增加吸烟的吸引力和增强性6 - 8，这可能有助于发展为常规吸烟 新用户中的吸烟和成瘾。吸烟的主观吸引力和强化效果很重要 神经生物学系统的指标是吸烟成瘾和滥用倾向的基础，9并已被证明， 鼓励以后吸烟。只有少数受控调查研究了不同的吸引力， 吸薄荷醇和非薄荷醇香烟的增强效果，10 - 12但大多数具有方法上的局限性13，14， 包括小样本量和遗漏YA吸烟者。12 - 18这些研究也没有测量，有足够的水平 准确性，顺序的程度，以及解决薄荷醇的上下文依赖性波动所需的时间- 我们将招募薄荷醇（n = 150）和非薄荷醇（n = 150）YA吸烟者 在过去6个月内开始吸烟的人，并测量薄荷醇和非薄荷醇香烟的吸引力/强化 以及上诉/强化对吸烟变化（进展、尼古丁依赖和香烟危害）的影响 在6个月的随访中观察到。将通过两个互补的衡量标准来评估呼吁/强化 范式：一个在实验室中使用经过充分验证的行为经济学选择任务20 - 22，另一个在自然界中使用 生态瞬时评估（EMA）。实验室研究提供了大量的效率和 内部对照，允许对无法捕获的薄荷醇吸烟急性主观反应进行因果推断 通过主观的自我报告;虽然EMA允许类似的行为因果顺序，但在生态学上有效 在吸烟者的自然环境中。据推测，与非薄荷烟吸烟者相比，薄荷烟 吸烟者将在实验室和通过EMA表现出更大的吸引力/强化， 6个月后，逐渐习惯吸烟，尼古丁依赖增加，香烟危害感知降低 随访薄荷醇偏好和吸烟结果之间的关联将减少或不显著， 包括模型中的吸引力/强化措施;表明薄荷醇的吸引力/强化占 吸烟进展这项研究将分离出烟草中薄荷醇在青少年中的独特作用，并将有助于了解 关于薄荷醇香烟（与非薄荷醇香烟相比）成瘾可能性和滥用倾向的监管决定 以及在未来的研究中在其他烟草产品中使用特征香料。

7. PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT This R01 proposal is responsive to priority research areas #2 (Addiction) and #4 (Behavior) within RFA-OD-17- 013 and seeks to address several limitations in the research on menthol smoking. Although the FDA banned characterizing flavors in cigarettes, menthol cigarettes are still available to consumers. Experimentation with menthol cigarettes has been linked to progression to regular smoking and nicotine dependence in youth and young adults (YAs, defined here as ages 18-24)1-5, a vulnerable group of tobacco users. A key unanswered question is whether menthol increases the appealing and reinforcing properties of cigarette smoking6-8, which may facilitate progression to regular smoking and addiction among newer users. The subjective appeal and reinforcing effects of smoking are important indicators of the neurobiological systems that underlie smoking addiction and abuse liability,9 and have been shown to motivate subsequent smoking. Only a handful of controlled investigations have examined the differential appealing and reinforcing effects of smoking menthol and non-menthol cigarettes,10-12 but most have methodological limitations13,14, including small sample sizes and omission of YA smokers.12-18 These studies also do not measure, with a sufficient level of accuracy, degree of sequencing, and timing that is needed to address the context-dependent fluctuations in menthol- related appeal and reinforcement in real time.19 We will recruit menthol (n = 150) and non-menthol (n = 150) YA smokers who initiated smoking in the past 6-months, and measure appeal/reinforcement for menthol and non-menthol cigarettes and the impact of appeal/reinforcement on changes in smoking (progression, nicotine dependence, and cigarette harm perceptions) at a 6-month follow-up. Appeal/reinforcement will be assessed via two complementary measurement paradigms: one in the laboratory using a well-validated behavioral economic choice task20-22 and the other in the natural environment using ecological momentary assessment (EMA). Laboratory studies provide a great deal of efficiency and internal control, allowing for causal inference of acute subjective response to menthol smoking that cannot be captured through subjective self-report; while EMA allows for similar causal sequencing of behavior, but in an ecologically valid format in the smoker’s natural environment. It is hypothesized that, compared to non-menthol smokers, menthol smokers will show greater appeal/reinforcement, both in the laboratory and via EMA, and will be more likely to show progression to regular smoking, increases in nicotine dependence, and lower cigarette harm perceptions by a 6-month follow-up. The association between menthol preference and smoking outcomes will be reduced or non-significant after including measures of appeal/reinforcement in the model; suggesting that menthol’s appeal/reinforcement accounts for smoking progression. This research will isolate the unique effects of menthol in tobacco among YAs and will help inform regulatory decisions pertaining to the addiction potential and abuse liability of menthol (versus non-menthol) cigarettes and the use of characterizing flavors in other tobacco products in future studies.