Nicotine reduces the frequency of anger reports in smokers and nonsmokers with high but not low hostility: An ambulatory study.

Abstract

Two studies were conducted to determine the anger-attenuating effects of nicotine as a function of trait hostility. The 1st study examined the effects of nicotine on diary ratings of anger during a 24-hr period in a natural setting in 30 smokers and 30 nonsmokers. Participants took part in 2 monitoring sessions involving the administration of a nicotine patch and a placebo patch. Participants were categorized as high or low on trait hostility on the basis of their scores on the Cook-Medley Hostility scale. Administration of the nicotine patch, compared with the placebo patch, resulted in a significant reduction in diary reports of anger from 24% to 13% in high-hostile participants. In low-hostile participants, nicotine had no effect on reports of anger during the day. The anger-palliative effects of nicotine were greatest among participants more frequently reporting anger on the placebo-patch day. These effects were independent of smoking status and gender. The 2nd study, which was restricted to high-hostile smokers (n = 19) and nonsmokers (n = 23), found that, compared with a placebo patch, administration of nicotine resulted in significant reductions in reports of anger in smokers and nonsmokers. The results of these 2 studies clearly link nicotine to reduced reports of anger in high-hostile individuals. On reviewing the literature on why people smoke, Gilbert (1995) hypothesized that smoking promotes fewer negative thoughts and moods as well as enhanced concentration and more positive affect. Negative affect modulation has been considered a major underlying motivation for smoking (Eysenck, 1973; Leventhal & Cleary, 1980; Tomkins, 1968), although smokers differ greatly in how nicotine affects their behavioral and affective responses (Gilbert, 1994; Tomkins, 1968). In animal studies, nicotine has been shown to attenuate aggressive behaviors in cats (Berntson, Beattie, & Walker, 1976) and to suppress provoked fighting in rats and monkeys, and these effects have been shown to be dosedependent and independent of any nonspecific depressant effects of nicotine (Driscoll & Baettig, 1981; Emley & Hutchinson, 1983; Rodgers, 1979; Silverman, 1971; Waldbillig, 1980). Parallel findings have been reported in studies of