Daily Stress and Smoking.

Abstract

This study examined daily minor stress and cigarette smoking in adult habitual smokers. In this study, 55 subjects monitored daily stress, daily state anxiety, and daily cigarette intake for 21 consecutive days. Subjects also completed measures of trait anxiety, self-reported smoking motives, recent major life events, and social support. These variables, along with gender, were used to predict associations between daily cigarette intake and scores on daily stress and anxiety inventories. Results of within- and between-subjects time series correlational analyses showed significant associations between scores on measures of daily stress and daily cigarette intake. While subjects as individuals showed marked variability in their associations between daily stress and cigarette consumption, these associations could not be predicted by any of the hypothesized predictor variables, including gender, trait anxiety, self-reported negative-affect-reduction smoking, recent life events, and social support. Results of this study are discussed with regard to research and theory in the areas of stress and cigarette smoking. Future research and clinical implications also are discussed.