Stimulus control in intermittent and daily smokers

Area of Science:

• Behavioral Science
• Addiction Research
• Psychology

Background:

• Many adult smokers are intermittent smokers (ITS), not smoking daily.
• Previous research suggested ITS smoking is linked to specific situations, like alcohol use.
• Individual differences in conditioning histories may influence stimulus control over smoking.

Purpose of the Study:

• To quantify idiographic stimulus control over smoking in intermittent smokers (ITS) and daily smokers (DS).
• To assess how well smoking can be predicted by situational characteristics for individual smokers.
• To compare stimulus control between ITS and DS across various contexts.

Main Methods:

• Utilized multivariable logistic regressions for each subject to estimate stimulus control.
• Employed ecological momentary assessment (EMA) for 3 weeks, recording smoking occasions in an electronic diary.
• Contrasted smoking occasions (n=21,539) with non-smoking occasions (n=26,930) assessed via random beeping.

Main Results:

• Intermittent smokers (ITS) demonstrated significantly stronger stimulus control than daily smokers (DS) across all assessed domains (mood, location, activity, social setting, consumption, smoking context, time of day).
• Mood and smoking context were the most influential factors for ITS smoking.
• Food and alcohol consumption had the least influence on ITS smoking, despite prior suggestions.

Conclusions:

• Smoking behavior, particularly in ITS, is under substantial stimulus control.
• This strong stimulus control, varying individually, may significantly influence smoking maintenance and quitting difficulty for all smokers, especially ITS.
• Idiographic assessment of stimulus control offers a nuanced understanding of smoking behavior beyond group averages.