Questionnaire May Clarify Relationship Between PTSD and Smoking

Veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) who smoke are more likely than others to believe in the positive effects of smoking, including reducing negative affect, relieving boredom, and facilitating social interactions, and these beliefs may increase their risk for continuing to smoke. "Further understanding of smoking expectancies in this group may help in developing interventions tailored for this vulnerable population," said researchers at the San Francisco VA Medical Center in the June 2011 Journal of Trauma and Stress. The group followed up this work in an online January 23 report in Nicotine and Tobacco Research showing that the Smoking Consequences Questionnaire-Adult (SCQ-A) is a valid measure of expectancies about smoking in military veteran smokers with PTSD. They said that their results suggest that smoking outcome expectancies may play an important role in explaining the relationship between PTSD and cigarette smoking.

Depression plays a significant role in whether people smoke and whether they are heavy smokers. Read more about this topic in Psychiatric News.

(Image: Tatagatta/Shutterstock.com)