A comparison of recovering alcoholic and non-alcoholic smokers

Whether smokers with a positive past history (PH) of alcohol dependence need more intensive or different treatment than smokers with no such history (NH) is unclear. We surveyed 31 PH smokers and 31 age and sex-matched NH smokers to examine differences in motivations for and barriers to stopping smoking. The final regression model found that PH and NH smokers did not differ in social support, social pressure, readiness to quit or physical consequences of smoking; however, PH smokers were more dependent on nicotine and had more internal (affective) barriers to cessation than NH smokers. Although our results require replication due to our small sample size, they do suggest that PH smokers would especially benefit from medications for nicotine dependence and medications or psychosocial treatments for depression.