Smoking withdrawal dynamics in unaided quitters

Considerable research shows that withdrawal severity is inconsistently rela ted to smoking cessation outcomes. This result from measurement problems or failure to scrutinize important dimensions of the withdrawal experience. T wo recent studies demonstrated that withdrawal elevation and, variations in the time course of withdrawal. were related to relapse in smokers treated with the nicotine patch (T. M. Piasecki, M. C. Fiore, & T.B. Baker, 1998). This article reports a conceptual replication and extension of those findin gs in unaided quitters, Evidence for temporal heterogeneity was found acros s different types of withdrawal symptoms. Patterns or slopes of affect and urge reports over time predicted smoking status at follow-up, as did mean e levation in withdrawal symptoms. These results suggest that affect and urge withdrawal symptoms make independent contributions to relapse and that rel apse is related to both symptom severity and trajectory.