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Influence of nicotine on positive affect in anhedonic smokers

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Abstract

Rationale

The possibility that individuals administer nicotine to self-regulate persistent negative affect has received interest as a possible explanation for the high prevalence of affectively vulnerable smokers. Relatively overlooked, however, is the possibility that smokers might also self-administer nicotine to elevate low positive affect.

Objectives

This study examined whether nicotine administration augmented anhedonic smokers’ positive affective response to a positive mood induction.

Materials and methods

Fifty regular smokers (50% female) underwent two positive mood inductions during which they smoked either a nicotinized or denicotinized cigarette in counterbalanced order. Positive affect was assessed before and at two time points after smoking.

Results

Random effects regression showed a significant anhedonia by condition-by-time interaction [t(181)=−2.01, p = 0.04], supporting the hypothesis that anhedonia moderated nicotine’s effect on changes in positive affect. Simple effect analyses showed a significant condition-by-time interaction among high anhedonic smokers [t(91)= 2.47, p = 0.01] but not among less anhedonic smokers [t(91)= 0.34, p = 0.73].

Conclusion

Smoking nicotine vs placebo heightened anhedonic smokers’ ability to be induced into a positive mood, whereas nicotine had no effect on more hedonic smokers’ positive mood.

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Notes

  1. The model was analyzed without covariates, and the three-way interaction remained significant. The same results emerged when history of depression, ‘cigarette satisfaction’, and ‘cigarette good effects’ were included as covariates in the model.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Washington and Puget Sound Health Care System, Mental Health (7West), 1660 S. Columbian Way, Seattle, WA, 98108, USA

    Jessica Werth Cook

  2. Northwestern Medical School, Department of Preventative Medicine, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, 680 N. Lakeshore Dr., Suite 1102, Chicago, IL, 60611, USA

    Bonnie Spring

  3. Department of Psychology, University of Nebraska–Lincoln, 238 Burnett Hall, P.O. Box 880308, Lincoln, NE, 68588, USA

    Dennis McChargue

Authors
  1. Jessica Werth Cook
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  2. Bonnie Spring
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  3. Dennis McChargue
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jessica Werth Cook.

Additional information

Supported in part by grants VA Merit Review, NIH HL63307 and HL59348 to Dr. Spring, DA00467 to Dr. McChargue, and DA14144 to Dr. Cook.

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Cook, J.W., Spring, B. & McChargue, D. Influence of nicotine on positive affect in anhedonic smokers. Psychopharmacology 192, 87–95 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-006-0688-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-006-0688-5

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