Reactivity to smoking cues in adolescent cigarette smokers

This study examined reactivity to smoking cues in adolescent smokers (n=12) and nonsmokers (n=32), between 14 and 19 years of age. Participants were presented with videotaped smoking and neutral cues in a counterbalanced order. Subjective and physiological responses to each cue type were obtained. Findings indicated that smokers reported greater desire to smoke cigarettes in response to smoking cues, relative to neutral cues, when the smoking cues were presented first. Smokers also reported greater dominance (i.e., sense of control) during smoking-cue presentations, but only when these cues were presented second. Finally, smokers' heart rate was faster during the initial portion of the smoking-related video, relative to the neutral cue. Overall, this study demonstrates the feasibility of conducting laboratory-based cue-reactivity studies with adolescent smokers. Findings suggest that adolescents smokers show similar patterns of responding to smoking cues as adult smokers, although effects were not particularly robust in this sample and subjective effects were dependent on cue order.