Personalized smoking environment cue reactivity in smokers with schizophrenia and controls: a pilot study

Exposure to smoking cues increases craving to smoke and negatively changes mood in smokers with schizophrenia (SWS). This pilot study compared reactivity to real-world smoking environments versus neutral environments in SWS (n=10) and non-psychiatric control smokers (CON; n=10). Results indicate that both SWS and CON experienced increases in smoking urges when viewing images of their smoking environments and that SWS tended to report greater increases in withdrawal-related negative mood than CON when viewing images of their smoking environments. These findings signify that personalized smoking environments trigger smoking urges in SWS and suggest that extinguishing this reactivity may aid cessation efforts in this population.