Effects of nicotine deprivation and irritability on physical aggression in male smokers

Thirty-five continuing male smokers were randomly assigned to either a deprived or a nondeprived condition. On the basis of self-reported trait irritability, participants were then assigned to 1 of 4 groups: deprived-high irritable, deprived-low irritable, nondeprived-high irritable, and nondeprived-low irritable. Aggression was measured with a modified version of the Taylor aggression paradigm. Self-reported smoking urge was assessed throughout the reaction time competition. Results indicated that the deprived-high-irritable group displayed the highest levels of aggressive behavior. Positive associations between urge ratings and aggression indexes were detected only in the deprived-high-irritable group. Results support the existence of an interactive effect of nicotine deprivation and trait irritability on physical aggression and highlight the role of smoking urge as an important factor in the deprivation-aggression link.