Gender effects on mood and cigarette craving during early abstinence and resumption of smoking

Abstract

Women are more likely than men to relapse after initiating abstinence from cigarette smoking. The reasons for this phenomenon are unclear but may relate to negative mood, cigarette craving, or other symptoms of nicotine withdrawal. We addressed this issue in a study of 26 female and 38 male smokers. The Profile of Mood States, Shiffman-Jarvik Withdrawal Scale, and Urge to Smoke Scale were administered twice in each of two test sessions on different days. One session began within 1 hr after smoking ad libitum and the other followed overnight abstinence (>13 hr). On each test day, the two assessment blocks were separated by a 5-10-min break, during which each participant smoked one cigarette. In the first test block, both men and women reported higher scores after >13Correspondence: Edythe D. London, Ph.D., NPI-Semel Institute for Neuroscience, UCLA, 760 Westwood Plaza, C8-528, Los Angeles, CA 90024, USA. Tel: (310) 825-0606; Fax: (310) 825-0812; elondon@mednet.ucla.edu. Publisher's Disclaimer: Full terms and conditions of use: http://www.informaworld.com/terms-and-conditions-of-access.pdf This article may be used for research, teaching and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, re-distribution, re-selling, loan or sub-licensing, systematic supply or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. The publisher does not give any warranty express or implied or make any representation that the contents will be complete or accurate or up to date. The accuracy of any instructions, formulae and drug doses should be independently verified with primary sources. The publisher shall not be liable for any loss, actions, claims, proceedings, demand or costs or damages whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with or arising out of the use of this material. NIH Public Access Author ManuscriptNicotine Tob Res. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2009 November 9. NIH-PA Author ManuscriptNIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author Manuscript hr abstinence than after <1 hr abstinence on the tension-anxiety and anger-hostility subscales of the Profile of Mood States, and for the craving and psychological symptoms of the Shiffman-Jarvik Withdrawal Scale. Scores of female subjects showed significantly larger differences between sessions on the tension-anxiety subscale and a trend toward significance (p=.050) on the angerhostility subscale of Profile of Mood States than those of males. Moreover, on the tension-anxiety subscale, women also reported a greater reduction than men from smoking one cigarette after overnight abstinence. The findings indicate that overnight abstinence produces more negative mood symptoms and cigarette craving in female smokers than in males, and that resumption of smoking produces greater relief from these symptoms in female smokers. These differences may contribute to the greater likelihood of relapse when women try to quit smoking.

Sex Differences in the Brain's Dopamine Signature of Cigarette Smoking

“…Women have more difficulty quitting than men (Perkins et al, 2001;Piper et al, 2010). They report more negative affect (Xu et al, 2008;Langdon et al, 2013;Doran, 2014) and greater cueinduced craving (Field and Duka, 2004;Carpenter et al, 2014;Doran, 2014) than men during acute withdrawal. Men tend to be more reinforced by the nicotine in cigarettes, that is, they are more sensitive to the nicotine level (Perkins et al, 2001).…”

Sex-Specific Effects of Cigarette Mentholation on Brain Nicotine Accumulation and Smoking Behavior

“…Although women's vulnerability to nicotine/smoking dependence is likely determined by many factors (O'Dell and Torres, 2014;Perkins et al, 1999), considerable evidence suggests that women vs men are more sensitive to acute rewarding effects of smoking or nicotine administration. Some studies found that women experienced greater reductions in craving (Eissenberg et al, 1999) and tension-anxiety symptoms Effects of menthol on brain nicotine accumulation Y Zuo et al (Xu et al, 2008) immediately after cigarette smoking. Women reported stronger 'drug strength', 'head rush' from intravenous bolus nicotine (Sofuoglu and Mooney, 2009), and stimulant and mood-altering experiences after nicotine nasal spray (Myers et al, 2008).…”

Ansiedad, depresión, afecto negativo y positivo asociados con el consumo de tabaco en universitarias

“…Los resultados coinciden con diferentes estudios (Goodwin et al, 2011;Leventhal et al, 2007;Luk & Tsoh, 2010;Nakajima & al'Absi, 2012;Pang et al, 2015;Roys et al, 2016;Schleicher et al, 2009;Weinberger & McKee, 2012;Xu et al, 2008) en los que se muestra una asociación significativa entre la sintomatología depresiva y el afecto negativo en mujeres adultas y el nivel de dependencia. Sin embargo, los resultados obtenidos en el presente estudio incluyen la ansiedad como una variable que también se asocia con el patrón de consumo y al nivel de dependencia de la nicotina.…”

“…La literatura científica muestra que cuando las mujeres suprimen el consumo de tabaco presentan síntomas de abstinencia más graves que los hombres, es decir que se incrementan el afecto negativo (miedo, ansiedad, tristeza, irritabilidad, tensión, impaciencia, inquietud), la angustia relacionada con la abstinencia y el deseo de fumar para aliviarla, además de los problemas de concentración y los sín-tomas físicos desagradables (dolores de cabeza, sínto-ma autonómico y somnolencia; Leventhal et al, 2007;Pang & Leventhal, 2013;Perkins, Karelitz, Giedgowd, & Conklin, 2013). Dado que las mujeres experimentan sín-tomas de abstinencia severos, utilizan el cigarro como reforzador negativo para aliviarlos (Pang, Zvolensky, Schmidt, & Leventhal, 2015;Schleicher, Harris, Catley, & Nazir, 2009;Weinberger & McKee, 2012;Xu et al, 2008).…”