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The early time course of smoking withdrawal effects

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Abstract

Rationale

There has been little study of the very early time course of the smoking withdrawal syndrome, despite its relevance to the maintenance of both smoking and postcessation abstinence. The literature contains a range of estimates about the early appearance of withdrawal symptoms, but without reference to empirical data.

Objectives

The study aim was to conduct a comprehensive, multimodal assessment of the early time course of the symptoms associated with smoking withdrawal among cigarette smokers.

Methods

Participants were 50 smokers randomly assigned to either abstain or smoke at their own pace during 4 h in the laboratory. Dependent measures included resting heart rate, sustained attention (Rapid Visual Information Processing task; RVIP), selective attention to smoking stimuli (an emotional Stroop task), and self-report (Wisconsin Smoking Withdrawal Scale; WSWS). After baseline assessment, participants were assigned to the two conditions and the dependent measures were collected every 30 min.

Results

Generalized estimating equations revealed that abstaining participants displayed greater withdrawal than smoking participants on all measures with the exception of the Stroop task. Statistically significant differences in withdrawal were found within 60 min on heart rate, within 30 min on the RVIP, and between 30 and 180 min postcessation on the various subscales of the WSWS.

Conclusions

These findings provide the first evidence of the early time course of smoking withdrawal symptoms, although further research is needed to distinguish withdrawal from drug offset effects. Implications for understanding the maintenance of daily smoking and for the treatment of tobacco dependence are discussed.

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Notes

  1. We use the term “smoking withdrawal” rather than “nicotine withdrawal” to acknowledge the cognitive, affective, and sensorimotor contributors to tobacco use and dependence, in addition to the pharmacological effects of nicotine (e.g., Baker et al. 2004a; Rose 2006).

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Acknowledgements

This study was funded by the University of South Florida and the National Cancer Institute (R01 CA94256), and complies with the laws of the United States of America. The authors thank Drs. Mike Brannick, Ji-Hyun Lee, Doug Nelson, and Kevin Thompson for their helpful suggestions, and Amanda Heisserer and Lauren Siliati for their work on the project.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA

    Peter S. Hendricks, Joseph W. Ditre, David J. Drobes & Thomas H. Brandon

  2. Tobacco Research & Intervention Program, H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute, 4115 E. Fowler Ave., Tampa, FL, 33617, USA

    Thomas H. Brandon

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  1. Peter S. Hendricks
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  2. Joseph W. Ditre
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  3. David J. Drobes
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  4. Thomas H. Brandon
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Correspondence to Peter S. Hendricks or Thomas H. Brandon.

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Hendricks, P.S., Ditre, J.W., Drobes, D.J. et al. The early time course of smoking withdrawal effects. Psychopharmacology 187, 385–396 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-006-0429-9

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