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. 2016 Jul:58:149-54.
doi: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2016.02.022. Epub 2016 Feb 17.

Examining an underlying mechanism between perceived stress and smoking cessation-related outcomes

Zuzuky Robles  1 , Lorra Garey  2 , Julianna Hogan  2 , Jafar Bakhshaie  2 , Norman B Schmidt  3 , Michael J Zvolensky  4
Affiliations

Examining an underlying mechanism between perceived stress and smoking cessation-related outcomes

Zuzuky Robles et al. Addict Behav. 2016 Jul.

Abstract

The mediational role of negative reinforcement smoking outcome expectancies in the relation between perceived stress and (1) perceived barriers to cessation, (2) severity of problematic symptoms during past quit attempts, and (3) smoking-specific experiential avoidance (AIS) was examined. Data were drawn from a baseline assessment of a larger clinical trial. Participants included 332 adult treatment-seeking smokers (47.3% female; Mage=38.45; SD=.50; age range: 18-65 years). Results indicated that perceived stress was indirectly related to perceived barriers to smoking cessation, severity of problematic symptoms during past quit attempts, and AIS through negative reinforcement outcome expectancies. These results were evident after accounting for the variance explained by gender, negative affectivity, and alternative outcome expectancies for smoking. The present findings suggest that smokers with greater perceived stress experience greater negative reinforcement smoking expectancies, which in turn, may be related to numerous processes involved in the maintenance of smoking.

Keywords: Expectancies; Negative affect; Perceived stress; Smoking; Treatment.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Proposed model: Negative reinforcement smoking outcome expectancies as a potential mediation variable of the association between perceived stress and smoking cessation-related outcomes. Note: a = Effect of X on M; b = Effect of M on Yi; c’i = Direct effect of X on Yi controlling for M; a*b = Indirect effect of X on Yi through M; three separate models were conducted for each criterion variable (Y1–3). PSS (Perceived Stress Scale) is the predictor, SCQ-NA (Smoking Expectancy for Negative Reinforcement/Negative Affect Reduction) is the mediation variable, and Quit Prob (Severity of Problems Experienced During a Past Quit Attempt; Y1), BCS (Perceived Barriers to Smoking Cessation; Y2), and AIS (Avoidance and Inflexibility Scale; Y3) are the outcome variables. Covariates included: Gender (C1), SCQ-PR (Smoking Consequences Questionnaire-Positive Reinforcement Subscale; C2), SCQ-AWC (Smoking Consequences- Appetite and Weight Control Subscale; C3), SCQ-NC (Smoking Consequences Questionnaire-Negative Consequences Subscale; C4), and PANAS-NA (Positive and Negative Affect Scale-Negative Affect Subscale; C5).
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