Evaluating Distress Tolerance and Anxiety Sensitivity as Simultaneous and Concurrent Transdiagnostic Risk Factors for Smoking Quit Problems and Perceived Barriers for Cessation

Although rates of cigarette smoking have declined in the United States (US), individuals experiencing affective vulnerabilities (e.g., anxiety, depression) have maintained high rates of smoking. Extant work has shown distress tolerance and anxiety sensitivity underpin both emotional disorders and smoking. Yet, limited work has evaluated the concurrent and simultaneous role of distress tolerance and anxiety sensitivity on smoking-related processes such as problems when attempting to quit smoking and perceived barriers for cessation.

Participants included 155 (M_age = 29.59 years; SD = 7.49; 69% male) adults seeking treatment for smoking cessation and low distress tolerance.

Results indicated that only anxiety sensitivity was associated with problems when attempting to quit smoking. Distress tolerance and anxiety sensitivity were each associated with perceived barriers for cessation, with stronger relations for the impact of distress tolerance.

The current findings help elucidate the individual effects of distress tolerance and anxiety sensitivity in one overarching smoking model, thereby refining our understanding of these transdiagnostic factors in terms of clinically-relevant smoking processes.