Attenuated Positive Psychotic Symptoms in Relation to Cigarette Smoking in a Nonclinical Population

This study explored the association between cigarette smoking and attenuated positive psychotic symptoms in a young adult nonclinical sample.

Undergraduates (N = 930), aged 18-35 years (26.3% male), completed a battery of self-report measures assessing subthreshold psychotic symptoms, cigarette smoking behavior/dependence, and drug use.

Individuals endorsing a greater number of attenuated positive psychotic symptoms were more likely to be smokers. Exploratory analyses indicated that the odds of being a smoker were two times greater for those at potential higher risk for psychosis compared with individuals at lower risk. Results were consistent after adjusting for sex and other drug use.

In line with findings from psychotic populations, results suggest that attenuated positive psychotic symptoms, particularly those endorsed as distressing in a nonclinical, undergraduate population, are related to cigarette smoking.

Even in nonclinical, undergraduate populations, subthreshold psychotic symptoms are related to cigarette smoking, and cigarette smokers are twice as likely to be considered at potentially higher risk for psychosis compared with noncigarette smokers. In summary, there may be a threshold whereby psychotic symptoms confer increased risk for nicotine consumption, with endorsement of a greater number of distressing subthreshold psychotic symptoms increasing the likelihood of cigarette use.