Resource Allocation Among College Students
(In collaboration with Frank L. Collins. Jr., Ph.D.)
The widespread use of tobacco-containing products continues to be a concern
within the United States. Despite the recognition that prolonged use of such
products is associated with a number of serious medical illnesses (e.g., cancer,
coronary heart disease and stroke), many individuals continue to smoke. While
smoking cessation research has advanced notably in many different areas over the
past two decades, the most stable aspect of smoking cessation treatments
continues to be their low success rates.
There is consistent evidence from a number of studies that suggests that
economic variables may influence drug use. Specifically, drug costs and
availability of income affect drug initiation. In addition, among treated drug
abusers availability of money is an important predictor of relapse. To date,
however, most studies examining such economic variables have focused on
examining polydrug use and how changes in money available influences rates of
consumption across multiple classes of drug use. These studies have largely
neglected examining economic factors among cigarette smokers. Hence, the aim of
the present study is to examine how changes in the cost of cigarettes influences
what people choose to spend their money on. Specifically we intend to examine
how increasing or decreasing the cost of cigarettes influences other oral (e.g.,
food, chewing gum) as well as behavioral (e.g., use of internet, movie viewing)
reinforcers.
Effects of Nicotine Withdrawal on Salivary
Cortisol Levels
(In collaboration with Mustafa al'Absi, Ph.D.)
If craving and nicotine withdrawal are conceptualized as a stress response, then
physiological indices that have been shown to correspond with stress should also
reflect nicotine withdrawal and craving symptoms. Of all the changes that occur
in response to stress, the secretions of the Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal (HPA)
axis have been used most extensively as an index of the presence of stress. The
HPA axis works via a closed-loop feedback system that tightly regulates plasma
cortisol levels. Cortisol secretion rises predictably in response to a number of
stressors and cortisol levels typically increase in proportion to the intensity
of the stimulus. During a cortisol burst, levels can rise significantly in a
short period of time (i.e., 10 to 30 minutes) and dissipate quickly due to its
short half-life of approximately 60 to 90 minutes.
Cortisol effects from nicotine withdrawal and craving are still unclear.
Theoretically, the level of dependence and intensity of nicotine withdrawal and
craving symptoms may influence cortisol secretion during periods of nicotine
deprivation. Low levels of nicotine dependence that produces minimal nicotine
withdrawal and craving symptoms may correspond with decreases in cortisol
levels. In essence, because cortisol increases during nicotine consumption, it
should decrease as nicotine dissipates during deprivation. However, as nicotine
withdrawal and craving increase proportionally with the level of dependence,
producing a notable stressor on the system, cortisol levels should subsequently
increase proportionally with the intensity of nicotine withdrawal and craving.
The present study is designed to evaluate the potential of salivary cortisol as
a physiological measure of nicotine withdrawal during nicotine deprivation. It
is predicted that nicotine deprivation will elicit increases over time in
salivary cortisol concentrations (as nicotine withdrawal becomes more
pronounced). e the potential of salivary cortisol as a physiological measure of
nicotine withdrawal during nicotine deprivation. It is predicted that nicotine
deprivation will elicit increases over time in salivary cortisol concentrations
(as nicotine withdrawal becomes more pronounced).
Personality, Affect, Tobacco Use, and
Physical Activity: Differentiating Between those who Smoke, Chew, and do not use
Tobacco.
(In collaboration with Dennis McChargue, Ph.D.)
There are 2 distinct questions being addressed by the current study:
Part 1 focuses on examining personality and mood factors that are predictive of
nicotine use, while also identifying potential differences between cigarette
smokers, individuals who use smokeless tobacco, individuals who use both
concurrently, and individuals who do not use tobacco-containing products.
Part 2 extends the focus to also examine differences observed between the
above-mentioned groups in physical activity levels. Information obtained will
also examine personality and mood factors that are predictive of nicotine use,
and whether physical activity moderates the relationship between such factors
and nicotine use.
Chewing
Gum and Reductions in Self-Reported Nicotine Withdrawal:
Is it the flavor, chewing or both?
(Monica Cortez-Garland’s Dissertation)
Cigarette
smoking continues to be a major public health issue. It is estimated that 68
percent of the 47 million smokers in the United States state they are interested
in quitting their habit (CDC, 1997). One reason that cessation of nicotine is
difficult is the withdrawal syndrome experienced. Through the theory of
behavioral economics researchers are better able to consider variables in the
individual’s environment that can aid cessation interventions. One non-drug
alternative to cigarettes studied by Cohen and colleagues (1997, 1999, 2001) is
confectionary chewing gum. Chewing gum has demonstrated the ability to minimize
withdrawal symptoms and craving during short-term abstinence. A question
remaining in this line of research is the determination of the active property
of chewing gum that helps in the observed reductions in self-reported nicotine
withdrawal. Interestingly, research investigating sweet flavoring has
demonstrated its ability to reduce craving for nicotine (Levin. Behm, & Rose,
1990) while other research has found that the act of chewing provides a sense of
relaxation and tension reduction (Hollingworth, 1939). Craving for nicotine
(Hughes, Higgins, & Bickel, 1994) as well as relief of anxiety (Schneider &
Houston, 1970) are two of the primary reasons individuals report relapsing to
cigarette use.
The purpose of the present
study is to better understand how chewing gum affects these withdrawal
experiences by using flavored chewing gum, flavorless gum base, and flavor
strips in order to tease apart the actions of chewing, flavor, and the
combination of the two. Gender differences across these properties will also be
examined.
Smoking-Cue Modulation
of the Startle Response and the Relationship to Stages of Change
(Jared Dempsey's Dissertation)
The startle response is an
autonomic reflex, seen across species, resulting from an abrupt and intense
sensory stimulus (e.g., a loud noise). The study of the startle response has
proven valuable across several fields of research, including studies of
emotions, cognitive processes, neurological disorders, and psychiatric disorders
(Dawson, Schell, & Boehmelt, 1999a).
The startle response can be
reliably modulated by the presence of emotionally salient stimuli, with
increases in startle occurring for unpleasant stimuli and decreases in startle
occurring for pleasant stimuli (Peter J. Lang, Bradley, & Cuthbert, 1990).
While most research in this area has traditionally utilized emotionally salient
pictures as the means to modulate the startle response, recent research has
begun to investigate how drug cues may modulate startle. With nicotine cue
research, results have been mixed. Studies have documented aversive responses
to smoking-cues (Elash, Tiffany, & Vrana, 1995), a lack of any modulation by
smoking-cues (Hutchison, Niaura, & Swift, 1999; Orain-Pelissolo, Perez-Diaz,
Jouvent, & Grillon, 2004), and differences in startle modulation by smoking
status, with smokers viewing smoking-cues as pleasant, and non-smokers viewing
these cues as unpleasant (Geier, Mucha, & Pauli, 2000). In addition to
differing vastly in methodological techniques employed, research on the
modulation of startle via smoking-cues has also neglected to take into account
differences among smoking participant characteristics. The purpose of the
present study is to examine the influence of the stages of change on the
modulation of the startle response, via smoking-cue images.
Cigarette
Smoking: Attentional Mediation of Anxiety as a Predictor of Nicotine Withdrawal
Severity(Holly
Morrell’s Dissertation)
Although a
majority of cigarette smokers report that they smoke to relieve anxiety
(Schneider & Houston, 1970), studies examining the anxiolytic properties of
smoking have yielded equivocal results. Kassel and colleagues proposed that the
anxiolytic effects of nicotine might be mediated by the presence or absence of
distracting stimuli (Kassel & Shiffman, 1997; Kassel & Unrod, 2000). More
specifically, Kassel and Shiffman postulated that smoking “constrains smokers’
attention to the most immediate and salient stimuli in their environment—when
such stimuli are available” (p. 360). As a result, smokers are more likely to
focus on immediate and distracting stimuli than more distal anxiogenic stimuli,
thus reducing anxious mood. Results from several studies suggest that
attentional mediation might be influenced by level of nicotine withdrawal, a
state that typically evokes increased levels of self-reported anxiety.
The
current study is designed to assess the degree to which attentional mediation
influences the experience of self-reported nicotine withdrawal severity in a
sample of adult heavy smokers. The primary hypothesis is that smokers who
display greater reductions in anxiety in the presence of a distracting stimulus
will also experience more severe nicotine withdrawal.
|
