Posttraumatic stress and emotion dysregulation: Relationships with smoking to reduce negative affect and barriers to...

Many cigarette smokers have experienced a traumatic event, and elevated posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) are associated with increased smoking levels. Previous research has found that elevated PTSS are associated with smoking to cope with negative affect, and it has been posited that perceptions of being unable to cope with the consequences of smoking cessation interfere with smoking cessation in this population. However, the mechanism of the relationship between PTSS and these smoking maintenance factors (i.e., smoking to reduce negative affect and barriers to cessation) has not been established. Emotion dysregulation is one potential mechanism as it is associated with PTSS as well as addictive behavior aimed at avoiding and reducing negative emotional states.

We cross-sectionally tested the hypotheses that 1) PTSS and emotion dysregulation would be incrementally associated with smoking to reduce negative affect and barriers to cessation, and 2) that emotion dysregulation would mediate the relationships between PTSS, smoking to reduce negative affect, and barriers to cessation among a community sample of trauma-exposed individuals presenting for smoking cessation treatment (N=315).

Results demonstrated that elevated PTSS were associated with increased smoking to reduce negative affect and barriers to cessation, and that emotion dysregulation mediated these relationships.

These findings provide evidence of a mechanism between PTSS and psychological smoking maintenance factors, and suggest that emotion dysregulation may be a useful target for smoking cessation interventions among trauma-exposed individuals.