Smoking’s Acute Effects on Emotional Response in Adolescent Smokers

Smoking is a problem behavior most often initiated in adolescence, and previous research indicates that smoking might influence change in affect in adolescent smokers similarly to adults. Most of these studies rely on self-report, however, and the use of psychophysiological indices for the evaluation of emotional response could enhance the validity and reliability of these findings. Therefore, the goal of the current study was to determine any affective changes that adolescent smokers may experience after smoking and what might moderate these effects. Participants completed two study sessions during which they smoked a cigarette ad libitum or relaxed for an equivalent period of time. Then, they viewed a series of positive, neutral, and negative visual stimuli while providing continuous psychophysiological measures of startle eyeblink response (SER), skin conductance (SC), and heart rate (HR). They also reported smoking behavior, changes in craving after smoking, and baseline nicotine dependence and depression symptoms. Overall, the findings are mixed: smoking decreased SC response and increased HR, as anticipated. In contrast, smoking increased SER magnitude and amplitude as well as SC level and had no effect on SER latency. These findings can be understood through both the stress-coping and incentive salience theories of addiction. Future studies might incorporate a more comprehensive picture of the relationship between craving, affect regulation expectancies, and smoking’s acute effects on psychophysiology, as previous research has established strong associations between these factors. Given that the current study is part of a longitudinal project, it will also be valuable to see how acute response to smoking in the lab relates to future smoking behavior and changes in nicotine dependence and mood symptoms over time.