Validation of retrospective reports of early experiences with smoking

Initial sensitivity to the pharmacological effects of a drug may affect patterns of future use and dependence for a wide variety of drugs. Retrospective reports of sensations experienced upon early experimentation, however, may be limited by recall bias based on time elapsed and subsequent experiences. To validate reports of early experiences with nicotine, we studied 34 smokers who had contributed retrospective data on early experiences with smoking. Half had reported experiencing a buzz from smoking their first cigarette (the "yes" group), the other half had not (the "no" group). To simulate initial sensitivity to nicotine, we asked participants to remain abstinent from smoking for 5 days to allow for the dissipation of tolerance. They then participated in a laboratory session in which they were reexposed to nicotine in an unfamiliar form (nicotine nasal spray) and asked to indicate pleasurable responses by depressing a foot pedal if and when they experienced a "pleasurable buzz." Smokers in the "yes" group were marginally more likely to be male. The two groups did not differ significantly on age or race. The "yes" group smoked significantly more cigarettes/day than the "no" group. When the two groups were compared for response to nasal spray following 5 days' abstinence, smokers in the "yes" group were marginally more likely to have signaled experiencing at least one pleasurable buzz and rated "pleasurable sensation from spray" on a 100-mm visual analogue scale administered 10 min after nicotine dosing significantly higher than were those in the "no" group. To the extent that several days' abstinence can serve as a model for initial sensitivity to nicotine, our findings validate retrospective reports of pleasurable sensations upon early smoking experimentation.