Cancer patients enrolled in a smoking cessation clinical trial: characteristics and correlates of smoking rate and nicotine dependence

This is the final version. Available on open access from Hindawi Publishing Corporation via the DOI in this recordIntroduction: A substantial proportion of cancer patients continue to smoke after their diagnosis but relatively few studies have evaluated correlates of nicotine dependence and smoking rate in this population, which could help guide smoking cessation interventions. Aim: This study evaluated correlates of smoking rate and nicotine dependence in a sample of 207 cancer patients. Methods: A cross-sectional analysis using multiple linear regression evaluated disease, demographic, affective, and tobacco-seeking correlates of smoking rate and nicotine dependence. Smoking rate was assessed using a timeline follow-back assessment of cigarettes smoked per day. The Fagerström Test for Nicotine Dependence measured levels of nicotine dependence. Results: The primary analysis, using multiple linear regression predicting nicotine dependence, showed an association with smoking to alleviate a sense of addiction from the Reasons for Smoking Scale and tobacco-seeking behavior from the Concurrent Choice Task (p < .05), but not with affect measured by the HADS and PANAS (p > .05). Multiple linear regression predicting smoking rates prior to pre-quit visit also showed an association with smoking to alleviate addiction (p < .05). ANOVA showed that Caucasian participants reported greater rates of smoking compared to other reported races. Conclusions: The results suggest that behavioral smoking cessation interventions that focus on helping patients to manage tobacco-seeking behavior, rather than mood management interventions, could help cancer patients to quit smoking, as this data could be used to help tailor treatments for this population

Genome-Wide Meta-Analyses of Smoking Behaviors in African Americans

The identification and exploration of genetic loci that influence smoking behaviors have been conducted primarily in populations of the European ancestry. Here we report results of the first genome-wide association study meta-analysis of smoking behavior in African Americans in the Study of Tobacco in Minority Populations Genetics Consortium (n=32 389). We identified one non-coding single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP; rs2036527[A]) on chromosome 15q25.1 associated with smoking quantity (cigarettes per day), which exceeded genome-wide significance ($\beta$=0.040, s.e.=0.007, P=1.84 × 10$^{−8}$). This variant is present in the 5′-distal enhancer region of the CHRNA5 gene and defines the primary index signal reported in studies of the European ancestry. No other SNP reached genome-wide significance for smoking initiation (SI, ever vs never smoking), age of SI, or smoking cessation (SC, former vs current smoking). Informative associations that approached genome-wide significance included three modestly correlated variants, at 15q25.1 within PSMA4, CHRNA5 and CHRNA3 for smoking quantity, which are associated with a second signal previously reported in studies in European ancestry populations, and a signal represented by three SNPs in the SPOCK2 gene on chr10q22.1. The association at 15q25.1 confirms this region as an important susceptibility locus for smoking quantity in men and women of African ancestry. Larger studies will be needed to validate the suggestive loci that did not reach genome-wide significance and further elucidate the contribution of genetic variation to disparities in cigarette consumption, SC and smoking-attributable disease between African Americans and European Americans

Major Depression Is a Risk Factor for Shorter Time to First Cigarette Irrespective of the Number of Cigarettes Smoked Per Day: Evidence From a National Population Health Survey

Article deposited according to Oxford Open Self-Archiving policy: http://www.oxfordjournals.org/oxfordopen/policies.html, January 12, 2012.YesFunding provided by the Open Access Authors Fund

Serious mental illness and smoking cessation

Smoking rates among individuals with severe mental illness are significantly higher than in the general population. Contrary to common perception, individuals with severe mental illness have been shown to be motivated to quit smoking. This paper discusses and synthesises literature on smoking among individuals with severe mental illness and contributes to the debate about the significant role mental health professionals can play in targeting the effective cessation therapies towards smokers with severe mental illness. Severe mental illnesses include schizophrenia, paranoid and other psychotic disorders, psychotic depression, bipolar affective disorder, major depression

Alcohol devaluation has dissociable effects on distinct components of alcohol behaviour

Rationale Substance-related behaviour is often viewed as an appetitive behaviour, motivated by the reinforcing effects of the drug. However, there are various indices of substance motivation (e.g. attentional bias, behavioural economic demand, craving) and it is unclear how these are related or whether they play an important role in all types of substance-related behaviour. Objectives (1) To determine the effect of alcohol devaluation on several indices of alcohol motivation and goal-directed and cue-elicited alcohol behaviour. (2) To investigate which components of motivation mediate any effect of devaluation on behaviour. Methods Sixty-two social drinkers gave baseline measures of alcohol craving, behavioural economic demand and choice for alcohol vs. soft drink. Participants tasted alcohol which was either unadulterated (control) or adulterated with a bitter solution (devaluation) before craving and demand were measured again. Alcohol choice was assessed in several phases: extinction (evaluating goal-directed behaviour), in the presence of drink cues (Pavlovian-to-instrumental transfer (PIT, cue-elicited behaviour)), and reacquisition. Attentional bias (AB) was measured by tracking eye movements towards the drink cues during novel PIT trials where both cues were presented. Finally, consumption was evaluated in a taste test. Results Alcohol devaluation reduced alcohol-related demand, AB, alcohol choice in all phases, and consumption. Alcohol cues presented during PIT increased alcohol choice above baseline irrespective of devaluation. AB and demand for alcohol fully mediated the effect of devaluation on alcohol choice during extinction, AB fully mediated the effect on cue-elicited (specific PIT) alcohol choice and alcohol consumption. Conclusions Alcohol behaviour in social drinkers is largely sensitive to devaluation, i.e. governed by current motivational value of the drug (suggesting goal-directed behaviour). However, a dissociable form of stimulus control can also drive alcohol-seeking independently of drug value (specific PIT). Mediation analyses suggests that AB may play a paradoxical role in both forms of alcohol seeking and consumption