Depressed mood and smoking experimentation among preteens

Mood, mood regulation expectancies and frontal systems functioning in current smokers versus never-smokers in China and Australia

Indices of mood, mood regulation expectancies and everyday executive functioning were examined in adult current smokers and never-smokers of both genders in Australia (N = 97), where anti-smoking campaigns have dramatically reduced smoking prevalence and acceptability, and in China (N = 222), where smoking prevalence and public acceptance of smoking remain high. Dependent measures included the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS-21), the Negative Mood Regulation (NMR) expectancies scale, the Frontal Systems Behavior Scale (FrSBe), the Fagerström Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND) and the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT). Multivariate analyses of covariance (MANCOVAs) controlling for demographic and recruitment related variables revealed highly significant differences between current smokers and never-smokers in both countries such that smokers indicated worse moods and poorer functioning than never-smokers on all dependent measures. Chinese smokers scored significantly worse on all dependent measures than Australian smokers whereas Chinese and Australian never-smokers did not differ on any of the same measures. Although nicotine dependence level as measured by FTND was significantly higher in Chinese than Australian smokers and was significantly correlated with all other dependent measures, inclusion of FTND scores as another covariate in MANCOVA did not eliminate the highly significant differences between Chinese and Australian smokers. Results are interpreted in light of the relative ease of taking up and continuing smoking in China compared to Australia today.

Self-efficacy mediates the effect of depression on smoking susceptibility in adolescents

INTRODUCTION

Research indicates that negative affect and/or depression is associated with increased prevalence for smoking and higher levels of nicotine dependence in adults and adolescents. A previous study with adult smokers attempting to quit indicated that low levels of self-efficacy partially mediated depression's adverse effect on posttreatment cessation.

METHOD

The current study attempted to test self-efficacy as a potential mediator between depressive symptoms and smoking susceptibility in adolescents. One thousand and ninety-three nonsmoking high-school students who were part of a large clinical trial evaluating an interactive CD-ROM-based smoking prevention/cessation curriculum (project ASPIRE) were included in this analysis. These students completed an extensive battery before treatment and 18 months after treatment, which included measures of depression, self-efficacy, smoking status, and smoking susceptibility.

RESULTS

Results indicated that self-efficacy partially mediated the positive relationship between baseline depressive symptoms and susceptibility to smoke at 18 months, accounting for approximately 27% of the variance.

CONCLUSIONS

Perhaps future interventions to prevent smoking in adolescents can target self-efficacy potentially resulting in more effective outcomes, particularly in adolescents with current depressive symptoms or who may be at risk for future depression.

Depressed mood and the effect of two universal first grade preventive interventions on survival to the first tobacco cigarette smoked among urban youth

INTRODUCTION

As part of an evaluation of two first-grade, universal preventive interventions whose proximal targets were early learning and behavior, we investigated the influence of depressed mood, the interventions, and their interaction on survival to the first tobacco cigarette smoked through age 19. One intervention focused on improving teacher behavior management and instructional skills (Classroom-Centered, CC) as a means of improving student behavior and learning and the other on the family-school partnership (FSP). Variation in the relationship between depressed mood and first cigarette smoked by gender and grade was also examined.

METHODS

Self-reports of smoking behavior and depressed mood were collected on an annual basis from grade 6 through age 19. The present analyses were restricted to the 563 youth who had never smoked by grade 6, or 83% of the original sample of first grade participants. Discrete-time survival analysis was used to examine the effects of depressed mood and the interventions on survival to the first tobacco cigarette smoked.

RESULTS

Depressed mood was associated with reduced survival time to the first cigarette smoked (adjusted hazard ratio, aHR: 1.4; 95% CI: 1.1-1.9), whereas the CC intervention prolonged survival time (aHR: 0.8; 95% CI: 0.7-0.9). No significant variation in the effect of depressed mood on survival was found by gender or grade, nor was the effect of the CC intervention moderated by depressed mood.

CONCLUSIONS

Strategies to prevent tobacco cigarette smoking should include both a focus on depressed mood in adolescence as well as on early success in elementary school.

Nicotine psychobiology: how chronic-dose prospective studies can illuminate some of the theoretical issues from acute-dose research

RATIONALE

To illustrate how prospective cigarette smoking research can illuminate some of the theoretical dilemmas about nicotine psychobiology from acute dose research.

METHODS AND RESULTS

When briefly deprived smokers are administered nicotine, they display a range of psychobiological 'gains', with improved cognitive performance, feelings of contentment, and reduced feelings of stress or depression. However, abstinence leads to decrements in all these functions. The balance between the deficits of nicotine deprivation and the gains of reinstatement has been debated for decades. Yet, it still remains controversial whether nicotine is psychobiologically beneficial, neutral or detrimental. Some illumination may be provided by prospective research. Taking up smoking during adolescence is often followed by increased feelings of stress and depression, whereas quitting is often associated with subsequent mood gains. Short-term prospective studies reveal that the essence of nicotine dependency is repetitive psychobiological vascillation. The mood gains of smoke inhalation represent the temporary reversal of abstinence effects, and the frequent experience of negative states in between cigarettes explains why smoking can increase psychobiological distress. This may also be linked with Diathesis-Stress models. If withdrawal symptoms reflect the exacerbation of natural predispositions, then 'disadvantaged' smokers will suffer the worst abstinence symptoms and develop the strongest nicotine dependency. This explanation contrasts with the self-medication model, which focuses on the immediate benefits of smoke inhalation, rather than the overall costs of nicotine use.

CONCLUSIONS

The frequent experience of negative psychological states in between cigarettes helps to explain why nicotine dependency is associated with a range of psychobiological problems.