Psychological and behavioral traits in smokers and their relationship with nicotine dependence level

Although several studies have been performed to evaluate the personality differences amongst smokers with different dependency levels, they do not use constant criteria for patients selection. The inconsistencies between some of these findings suggest the need for using solid criteria such as the modified Fagerstrom Tolerance Questionnaire (mFTQ) score to evaluate the relation between personality traits and impulsivity differences and the severity of nicotine dependency.

In this study, 22 heavily dependent, 37 lightly dependent and 30 non-smokers were recruited using the mFTQ score, a widely used test of nicotine dependence. All participants completed the Beck Depression Inventory, Cattle Anxiety Scale, Temperament, and Character Inventory and three other personality questionnaires intended to measure impulsivity: the Barratt's Impulsiveness Scale, Eysenck Impulsiveness Questionnaire, and Zuckerman's Sensation Seeking Scale. Participants also had to perform a behavioral choice task, the Delay Discounting Choice, which is designed to assess impulsivity.

Although heavily dependent smokers scored higher than non-smokers and lightly dependents on the Beck depression Inventory and most of the impulsivity subscales; lightly dependent smokers scored higher than non-smokers only on a few subscales of the impulsivity scores.

The mFTQ scores correlated significantly with many scores of the impulsivity subscales. These results would be helpful to design more specific questionnaires for the psychological assessment of smokers according to nicotine dependence level and to adopt more etiologic oriented treatment approaches in the future.