Evaluating the role of panic disorder in emotional sensitivity processes involved with smoking

The present study investigated the relationship between panic disorder and emotional sensitivity processes related to smoking. Participants were 170 young adult (mean age = 25.2 [8.4]) regular smokers (mean cigarettes per day = 15.6 [2.4]) with (n = 69) and without (n = 101) a primary diagnosis of panic disorder. Consistent with prediction, smokers with panic disorder showed greater motivation to smoke in order to reduce negative affect (but not other reasons for smoking), reported anxiety symptoms but not non-anxiety symptoms as problematic obstacles to quitting during past (lifetime) quit attempts, and reported lower levels of confidence in remaining abstinent when emotionally distressed. Results are discussed in relation to panic-relevant emotional sensitivity processes involved with smoking.