Smoking more common in those with PTSD

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Patients with posttraumatic stress disorder who have higher levels of symptoms are more likely to smoke to try to block off negative feelings, according to findings published in the current issue of Addictive Behaviors.

"Past research has demonstrated that exposure to traumatic events is associated with increased smoking behavior," Dr. Matthew T. Feldner, of the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, and colleagues write. "These data highlight the importance of better understanding the nature of the smoking-trauma association."

The researchers examined smoking patterns among young adults who had been exposed to trauma. The main hypothesis was that higher levels of posttraumatic stress symptoms would predict greater motivation to use smoking to reduce negative feelings.

Included in the study were 100 daily smokers, an average of 25 years old, reported being exposed to at least one traumatic event. Thirty-seven percent of the subjects met the diagnostic criteria for posttraumatic stress disorder. The participants smoked an average of 16 cigarettes per day.

"Consistent with prediction, greater posttraumatic stress symptom levels predicted greater smoking to reduce negative affect," Dr. Feldner's team reports.

"Secondary analyses further suggested that those meeting criteria for posttraumatic stress disorder smoke more to reduce negative (feelings) than those who do not meet the criteria, and trauma-related avoidance and arousal symptoms, but not re-experiencing symptoms, were related to smoking."

In contrast to expectations, greater levels of symptoms were also predictive of more frequent self-reported smoking for stimulation. Secondary analyses suggested that stimulation motives were significantly associated with avoidance symptoms.

A better understanding of this relationship, the team concludes, may be "critical" in developing specialized programs to stop smoking among those with trauma symptoms."

SOURCE: Addictive Behaviors 2007.