Abstract
Background and rationale
The high prevalence of co-occurring alcohol and tobacco use underscores the importance of understanding the influence of alcohol consumption on risk factors for smoking and relapse. Alcohol has been shown to impact reactivity to smoking and stress-related cues, both of which are common antecedents to smoking and smoking relapse.
Objective
The objective of the current study is to examine associations between alcohol use, cigarette craving, and stress reactivity following exposure to smoking and stress cues delivered in participants’ daily lives.
Methods
Using cue-reactivity ecological momentary assessment (CREMA), adult smokers (n = 138) reported cigarette craving, stress, and past hour alcohol use on a mobile device four times per day for 2 weeks, resulting in a range of 4493–5983 data points per analysis. Questions were followed by exposure to pictorial neutral, stressful, or smoking cues delivered via the mobile device. Craving and affect were re-assessed following cue exposure.
Results
Results showed that recent (past hour) alcohol use was significantly associated with increases in the following: (a) tonic (non-cue-elicited) cigarette craving, (b) stress cue-elicited cigarette craving, and (c) stress cue-elicited stress reactivity, in the context of high-baseline stress. There was no significant association between alcohol use and smoking cue-elicited craving.
Conclusions
Alcohol use may increase risk for smoking and relapse to smoking by increasing cigarette craving and, in certain contexts, stress following stress cue exposure. Though alcohol is known for its anxiolytic properties, under some conditions, it may increase reactivity to stress cues.
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Acknowledgements
This study was supported by the National Institutes of Health grants from the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA P50DA016511, NIDA K01DA036739, NIDA K12DA031794), the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA T32AA007474), and the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS UL1TR000062, NCATS UL1TR001450). The authors would like to thank L. Beech, E. Borhanian, J. Hinton, C. Horne, C. Johnson, P. Muldrow, D. Paquette, and L. Ueberroth for their invaluable contributions.
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Tomko, R.L., Saladin, M.E., McClure, E.A. et al. Alcohol consumption as a predictor of reactivity to smoking and stress cues presented in the natural environment of smokers. Psychopharmacology 234, 427–435 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-016-4472-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-016-4472-x