Influence of depression and gender on smoking expectancies and temptations in alcoholics in early recovery.

PURPOSE: Rates of smoking are much higher among persons with alcohol problems and a history of depressive illness than persons without those disorders. Drug use in general may be motivated by outcome expectancies such as negative affective reduction and relaxation. Persons with a history of depression may smoke as a means of mood management. The role of outcome expectancies and major depression in maintaining smoking behavior in a high-risk group of smokers, such as recovering alcoholics, has not been thoroughly examined.

METHODS: Using a cross-sectional design, 161 abstinent alcohol-dependent men and women who smoked were administered the Inventory to Diagnose Depression (IDD), a self-report instrument for assessing current and lifetime depression according to DSM-IV criteria, and measures of alcohol dependence, nicotine dependence, smoking motives, and situation-defined temptations to smoke.

RESULTS: As expected, smoking motives and temptations were moderated by history of depression. Alcoholics with a history of depression were more likely to smoke with the expectancy of negative affect reduction than those with no prior major depression. Using multiple regression, negative affective reduction, addiction, and severity of past depression were the strongest predictors of current temptations to smoke.

IMPLICATIONS: These results suggest that individuals with a combined history of alcoholism and major depression are at a high risk to use smoking as a means of mood enhancement.