Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 3, 2026

Creating Dynamic Images of Short-lived Dopamine Fluctuations with lp-ntPET: Dopamine Movies of Cigarette Smoking
Published on: August 6, 2013
Sex-Specific Link Between Emotional Vulnerability and Poor Weight Control in Cigarette Smokers
Samantha G Farris1, Bailey J O'Keeffe2, Ana M Abrantes2,3
1Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, NJ, 08854, USA. samantha.farris@rutgers.edu.
Background:
Cigarette smoking and poor weight control independently and synergistically increase risk for morbidity and mortality. However, few studies have examined the etiological role of emotion-regulatory dysfunction in the link between smoking and poor weight control, as well as the possible moderating role of sex.
Method:
Participants (n = 577; Mage = 44.42; SD = 13.80; 52.7% female) were daily smokers who completed a single survey online through Qualtrics. Emotional vulnerability was indexed by a latent construct comprised of the subscales from the Distress Tolerance Scale (DTS) and the Anxiety Sensitivity Index-3 (ASI-3). A regression model was constructed to examine the relation between emotional vulnerability and poor weight control, measured via body mass index (BMI).
Results:
Emotional vulnerability was significantly and positively associated with BMI (b = .08, p = .020). The effect was moderated by sex, such that emotional vulnerability was significantly related to BMI in female smokers (b = .15, p = .002), but not in male smokers (b = .01, p = .806).
Conclusions:
Emotional vulnerability appears to be a novel female-specific psychological mechanism related to poor weight control in smokers. Possible limitations are discussed.
Related Concept Videos
Sex-linked Disorders
Density, Specific Weight, Specific Gravity and Compressibility of Fluid
Specific weight represents the weight per unit volume and is calculated by multiplying...
Covalently Linked Protein Regulators
These groups modify specific amino acids in a protein....
Physiology of Emotion
Autonomic Nervous System
The autonomic nervous system (ANS) plays a critical role in emotional responses by regulating involuntary physiological functions. It consists of two main components: the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems. The sympathetic system...
Emotional Expression
Universal Facial Expressions
Psychologist Paul Ekman identified seven basic...
Weighted Mean
For example, consider the number of goals scored in the matches of a tournament. While computing the average number of goals scored in the tournament, it may be more important to...

