Affect, craving, and cognition: An EMA study of ad libitum adolescent smoking.

Reducing smoking among adolescents is a public health priority. Affect, craving, and cognitive processes have been identified as predictors of smoking in adolescents. The current study examined associations between implicit attitude for smoking (assessed via the positive-negative valence implicit association test) and affect, craving, and smoking assessed using ecological momentary assessment (EMA). Adolescent smokers (n = 154; Mage = 16.57, SD = 1.12) completed a laboratory assessment of implicit smoking attitudes and carried a palm-top computer for several days while smoking ad libitum. During EMA, they recorded affect, craving, and smoking behavior. Data were analyzed using a multilevel path analysis. At the between-subjects level, more positive implicit smoking attitude was indirectly associated with smoking rate via craving. This association was moderated by positive affect, such that it was stronger for those with greater traitlike positive affect. At the event (within-subject) level, implicit attitude potentiated associations between stress and craving and between positive affect and craving. Individuals with a more positive implicit attitude exhibited more robust indirect associations between momentary stress-positive affect and smoking. In sum, a more positive implicit attitude to smoking was associated with overall levels of craving and smoking and might have potentiated momentary affect-craving associations. Interventions that modify implicit attitude may be an approach for reducing adolescent smoking. (PsycINFO Database Record

Emotion dysregulation and negative affect: Laboratory and EMA investigations in smokers.

INTRODUCTION: Difficulties in emotion regulation are associated with addictive behaviors, including smoking. Difficulties in emotion regulation may underlie large, rapid changes in negative affect that can increase likelihood of relapse. We investigated the association between emotion regulation ability and negative affect in smokers assessed both in the laboratory and in the field using Ecological Momentary Assessment. METHODS: Adult community smokers (N = 44) carried a personal digital assistant (PDA) for two weeks and were instructed to complete assessments of negative affect multiple times per day. Participants were instructed that they could smoke as much or as little as they liked. The Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS) and the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) were completed at three lab visits. RESULTS: Participants with higher average DERS scores reported greater negative affect at lab visits. When a participant reported a DERS score at a lab visit higher than their individual average, they also reported higher negative affect at that lab visit. Participants with higher baseline DERS scores reported more labile negative affect during EMA than those with lower baseline DERS scores, and they also reported a higher maximum level of negative affect during EMA. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: Overall, the findings suggest that changes in emotion regulation are associated with negative affect and that emotion regulation ability is related to both the intensity and lability of negative affect. A better understanding of momentary changes in emotion regulation and negative affect may lead to improved interventions for preventing substance use relapse.

Self-reported and automatic cognitions are associated with exercise behavior in cancer survivors.

OBJECTIVE: Physical activity is beneficial for cancer survivors, but exercise participation is low in this population. It is therefore important to understand the psychological factors underlying exercise uptake so that more effective interventions can be developed. Social-cognitive theory constructs such as outcome expectancies predict exercise behavior, but self-report measures have several limitations. We examined the associations between implicit (automatic) cognitions and exercise behavior and self-efficacy in endometrial cancer survivors. METHOD: This was a longitudinal study to examine predictors of exercise behavior in female endometrial cancer survivors who all received an exercise intervention. Participants (N = 100, mean age of 57.0) completed questionnaires to assess self-report exercise-related measures (outcome expectancy and attitudes about and identification with exercise) and reaction time (RT) tasks to assess implicit exercise cognitions (expectancy accessibility, implicit attitudes about exercise, and implicit self-identification with exercise) at baseline and at 2, 4, and 6 months at follow-up. Exercise behavior was measured using accelerometers and self-report. Data were analyzed using linear mixed models. RESULTS: Expectancy accessibility was associated with exercise duration independent of the corresponding self-report measure. Exercise implicit attitudes and self-identification were prospectively associated with exercise self-efficacy only after adjustment for the corresponding self-report measures and baseline self-efficacy. Self-report measures were also associated with study outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: Both self-reported cognitions and implicit cognitions may be useful to identify individuals at risk of failing to exercise. Individuals so identified might be provided with a different or more intensive intervention. The data also suggest cognitive targets for intervention. (PsycINFO Database Record