Patients with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are more likely to smoke in order to block negative feelings. Previous research has demonstrated that exposure to traumatic events is associated with increased smoking behaviour. Researchers from the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, found the importance of understanding the nature of the smoking-trauma association better. For this they examined smoking patterns among young adults who had been exposed to trauma. The main hypothesis was that higher levels of posttraumatic stress symptoms would predict greater motivation to use smoking to reduce negative feelings. Included in the study were 100 daily smokers, with an average age of 25 years, reported to have been exposed to at least one traumatic event. Thirty-seven percent of the subjects met the diagnostic criteria for PTSD. The participants smoked an average of 16 cigarettes per day. Consistent with the prediction, greater posttraumatic stress symptom levels correlated with greater smoking to reduce negative feelings. Secondary analyses further suggested that those meeting criteria for PTSD, smoke more to reduce negative feelings than those who do not meet the criteria, and trauma-related avoidance and arousal symptoms, were related to smoking. In contrast to expectations, greater levels of symptoms were also predictive of more frequent self-reported smoking for stimulation. Secondary analyses suggested that stimulation motives were significantly associated with avoidance symptoms. The findings suggest that a better understanding of this relationship might be critical in developing specialised programs to stop smoking among those with trauma symptoms.
Addictive Behaviors,
February 2007