Anxiety disorder status among black adults who smoke: relations to cessation processes and smoking characteristics

Black/African American (hereafter Black) adults in the United States (US) who smoke cigarettes experience tobacco disparities. Although there are established associations between smoking and anxiety in the general population, past work has not explored these associations among Black adults who smoke. The present investigation examined Black adults who smoke combustible cigarettes who did and did not screen positive for an anxiety disorder (defined as a score of > 8 on the Overall Anxiety Severity and Impairment Norman et al., (J Psychiatric Res 45:262-268, 2011) in terms of perceived barriers for smoking cessation, severity of symptoms when trying to quit, and smoking abstinence expectancies. Exploratory tests were also conducted on secondhand smoke exposure. The current sample included 517 Black individuals who reported daily cigarette smoking (five or more cigarettes per day; mean age of 45 years, 51.5% identified as female). In the primary tests, results indicated a positive screen for an anxiety disorder (versus not) was associated with higher levels of perceived barriers for smoking cessation, severity of symptoms when quitting, and negative abstinence expectancies for smoking (negative mood, somatic symptoms, and harmful consequences). No group differences were evident for positive abstinence expectancies. Exploratory tests also indicated that a positive screen for an anxiety disorder (versus not) was related to higher degrees of secondhand smoke exposure. Overall, the present investigation found that screening positive for an anxiety disorder may be associated with a variety of cigarette smoking processes and beliefs among US Black adults who smoke.