Anxiety sensitivity - Relationship to negative affect smoking and smoking cessation in smokers with past major depressive disorder

The present study evaluated whether anxiety sensitivity (AS) was related to negative reinforcement smoking motives and increased risk of relapse durin g the early stages of a quit attempt. Specifically, the role of AS was eval uated in 60 smokers with past major depressive disorder (MDD) during smokin g cessation. Consistent with expectations, AS scores, as indexed by the 16- item Anxiety Sensitivity Index (ASI) [Behaviour Research and Therapy 24 (19 86) 1], were positively correlated with smoking to reduce negative affect b ut were not significantly correlated with smoking for other reasons. Higher ASI scores also were associated with increased risk of lapsing during the first 7 days after quit day. Results suggest that smokers with heightened l evels of AS may smoke more often to manage negative moods and may be less a ble to tolerate early withdrawal symptoms, specifically during early stages of a quit attempt. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.