Smoking- and menstrual-related symptomatology during short-term smoking abstinence by menstrual phase and depressive symptoms

Sharon S. Allen, Alicia M. Allen, Nicole Tosun, Scott Lunos, Mustafa al'Absi, Dorothy Hatsukami

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

20 Scopus citations

Abstract

Menstrual phase and depressive symptoms are known to minimize quit attempts in women. Therefore, the influence of these factors on smoking- and menstrual-related symptomatology during acute smoking cessation was investigated in a controlled cross-over lab-study.Participants (n=147) completed two six-day testing weeks during their menstrual cycle with testing order randomly assigned (follicular vs. luteal). The testing week consisted of two days of ad libitum smoking followed by four days of biochemically verified smoking abstinence. Daily symptomatology measures were collected. Out of the 11 total symptoms investigated, six were significantly associated with menstrual phase and nine were significantly associated with level of depressive symptoms. Two significant interactions were noted indicating that there may be a stronger association between depressive symptoms with negative affect and premenstrual pain during the follicular phase compared to the luteal phase. Overall, these observations suggest that during acute smoking abstinence in premenopausal smokers, there is an association between depressive symptoms and symptomatology whereas menstrual phase appears to have less of an effect. Further study is needed to determine the effect of these observations on smoking cessation outcomes, as well as to define the mechanism of menstrual phase and depressive symptoms on smoking-related symptomatology.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)901-906
Number of pages6
JournalAddictive Behaviors
Volume39
Issue number5
DOIs
StatePublished - May 2014
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Depressive symptoms
  • Menstrual cycle
  • Smoking cessation
  • Withdrawal

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Medicine (miscellaneous)
  • Clinical Psychology
  • Toxicology
  • Psychiatry and Mental health

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Smoking- and menstrual-related symptomatology during short-term smoking abstinence by menstrual phase and depressive symptoms'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this