Relationships Between Social Anxiety and Smoking-Specific Experiential Avoidance

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Behavioral Science
• Addiction Research

Background:

• Social anxiety is linked to higher smoking rates and lower cessation success.
• Socially anxious smokers exhibit greater avoidance of internal smoking cues.
• The specific types of internal smoking cues avoided by this population remain unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the relationship between social anxiety and the acceptance of various internal smoking cues (physical sensations, emotions, cognitions).
• To identify which specific types of internal smoking cues are avoided by individuals with social anxiety.

Main Methods:

• Adult smokers (N=450) from a smoking cessation trial participated.
• Bivariate correlations and hierarchical linear regression analyzed social anxiety and cue acceptance.
• Acceptance of physical sensations, emotions, and cognitions as smoking cues were assessed.

Main Results:

• Social anxiety correlated with lower acceptance of thoughts, sensations, and emotions that cue smoking.
• Social anxiety independently predicted lower acceptance of overall internal smoking cues, physical sensations, and emotions, even after controlling for nicotine dependence and comorbidities.
• The association between social anxiety and acceptance of cognitive smoking cues was not significant after controlling for other factors.

Conclusions:

• Individuals with high social anxiety demonstrate reduced acceptance of internal smoking cues, particularly physical sensations and emotions.
• This avoidance is independent of nicotine dependence and mental health comorbidities.
• Findings provide insight into smoking cessation challenges for socially anxious individuals and inform targeted treatment development.