VIOLENT ASSAULT, POSTTRAUMATIC-STRESS-DISORDER, AND DEPRESSION - RISK-FACTORS FOR CIGARETTE USE AMONG ADULT WOMEN

Cigarette smoking may be conceptualized as a strategy to cope with neg ative affect. Therefore, rates of cigarette use might be expected to b e greater in individuals experiencing events that produce negative aff ect, such as assault. To test this hypothesis, a national sample of 3, 006 women aged 18 and older was assessed for lifetime and current ciga rette use, previous history of physical and sexual assault, lifetime a nd current incidence of depression, and lifetime and current incidence of PTSD. Results indicated that the odds of active smoking in women w ith a lifetime history of assault were 1.82 times those of women with no previous history of assault. Similarly, risk of active cigarette us e in women with a previous history of depression or PTSD was 2.22 and 1.34 times those of women with no depressive or PTSD history, respecti vely. Recent assault, current PTSD, or current depression status were not associated with increased cigarette use.