Using virtual reality to assess young adult smokers' attention to cues

Cigarette smokers, when confronted with cues associated with smoking, evidence strong reactions, including increased attentional bias toward those smoking-related cues. These reactions have not been extensively studied in young adult smokers, a group that research suggests may respond differently than adults or adolescent smokers. Furthermore, the impact of olfactory cues, such as cigarette smoke, on attentional bias has not been explored in young adult smokers. In this pilot study, 20 nicotine-dependent young adult smokers were randomized to receive scent cues or no scent cues and were exposed to four virtual reality (VR) rooms containing sensory and social content, including smoking or neutral cues. Participants entered a neutral VR room, followed by two different smoking VR rooms, and closed with the same neutral room. Subjective attention to smoking cues and thoughts about smoking responses were recorded upon exiting each room. Significant increases in attention to cues and thoughts about smoking were found when young adult smokers were exposed to VR smoking environments, but the inclusion of olfactory cues did not result in significantly higher attention to cues or thoughts about smoking. Results suggest that while further research is necessary to understand the impact of olfactory cues, VR appears to be an effective methodology for cue exposure studies exploring attentional bias in young adult smokers.