Negative affect subtypes and craving differentially predict long-term cessation success among smokers achieving initial abstinence.
OBJECTIVE
This study aimed to examine the associations of individual trajectories of three types of negative affect (NA: anxiety, depression, and anger) and craving during a 44-day period of incentivized smoking abstinence period with cessation outcome at 3 months and at 1 year.


METHODS
Adult smokers (N = 140) completed questionnaire assessments of NA and craving during pre-quit baseline sessions and 15 postquit sessions over the 45 days of biochemically verified abstinence while on nicotine or placebo patch treatment. Growth curve and logistic regression analyses were used to examine the associations of trajectory parameters of the individual NA states and craving with the abstinence outcomes at 3 months and 1 year postquit.


RESULTS
Greater declines in anxiety, depression, and anger symptoms over the first 44 days of smoking cessation were predictive of higher odds of abstinence at both 3 months and 1 year. Moreover, the greater declines in anxiety and anger remained as significant predictors of abstinence at both time points, independent of the predictive ability of the trajectory profiles of craving.


CONCLUSIONS
The findings suggest that slower dissipation of NA, especially anxiety and anger, represents a greater risk for relapse to smoking beyond that predicted by craving during early abstinence. Thus, temporal profiles of the affective symptoms convey unique motivational significance in relapse. Reduction in NA during early abstinence may be a valid target for interventions to increase long-term cessation success rates particularly among individuals with refractory affective symptoms.
['Zuo|Yantao|Y|', 'Rabinovich|Norka E|NE|', 'Gilbert|David G|DG|']
D000328:Adult D000342:Affective Symptoms D000786:Anger D001007:Anxiety D066249:Craving D003863:Depression D005260:Female D006801:Humans D016015:Logistic Models D008297:Male D009042:Motivation D009538:Nicotine D018722:Nicotinic Agonists D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic D012008:Recurrence D012306:Risk D012907:Smoking D016540:Smoking Cessation D013375:Substance Withdrawal Syndrome D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires D000073869:Tobacco Smoking D061485:Tobacco Use Cessation Devices D014029:Tobacco Use Disorder D055815:Young Adult
Negative affect Craving Relapse Growth curve analysis Tobacco abstinence symptoms