Perceived discrimination, sense of control, and depressive symptoms among Korean American older adults.

This study explored a potential pathway by which perceived discrimination may affect levels of depressive symptoms in a sample of 472 Korean American older adults (Mage = 69.9, SD = 7.04). Building upon previous studies demonstrating that perceived discrimination has negative impacts on mental health, we hypothesized that sense of control would mediate the associations between perceived discrimination and depressive symptoms. Our analyses showed that the effects of perceived discrimination on depressive symptoms were not only direct but also mediated through a lowered sense of control. Finding that sense of control serves as an intervening step between perceived discrimination and mental health may help explicate the psychological mechanisms involved in responses to discriminatory experience and has implications for intervention strategies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An ecological perspective on smoking among Asian American college students: The roles of social smoking and smoking motives.

Using electronic diaries, the present study examined the roles of social smoking and smoking motives in relation to cigarette use patterns among Asian American college smokers. Multilevel modeling results showed that participants smoked more cigarettes when smoking with peers than when smoking alone. Participants' coping (but not social) motives moderated the within-person associations between smoking with peers and the cigarettes smoked during a smoking episode. The findings support the utility of an ecological perspective in examining the dynamic interaction between smoking motives and the social settings of cigarette use, and call for further research on the social smoking behaviors in diverse populations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Smoking withdrawal dynamics: I. Abstinence distress in lapsers and abstainers.

Smoking withdrawal reports from a clinical trial (n=893) were submitted to hierarchical linear modeling as a cross-method replication of a heterogeneity approach to withdrawal measurement and to clarify the influence of postcessation smoking on symptom reports. Five individual difference parameters tapping distinct facets of withdrawal were derived: intercepts (mean severity), linear slope (direction and rate of change), quadratic trend (curvature), volatility (scatter) and, among lapses, a cigarette coefficient (smoking-related deflections of symptoms). All parameters were highly variable across persons. Lapsers had more aversive symptom patterns than abstainers, and symptoms tended to be higher than otherwise predicted on lapse days. These results reinforce the conclusion that withdrawal symptoms are highly variable and argue against discarding withdrawal data from participants who lapse. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A prospective study of cigarette smoking initiation during college: Chinese and Korean American students.

Objective: The present study was a prospective investigation of baseline influences on initial smoking and transition to established smoking among college students who had not smoked prior to college. Design: Included were 267 participants in a longitudinal study of tobacco use. Students of Chinese (52%) or Korean (48%) descent were enrolled during their freshman year in college. Data for the present study were collected during four annual in-person interviews. Main outcome measures: (1) Initial use of a cigarette reflected having first smoked a cigarette (more than a puff) during college. (2) Established smoking was defined as having smoked at least 100 cigarettes. Results: Over the course of the study, 25% of baseline never-smokers tried their first cigarette, and 9% became established smokers. Overall, men were significantly more likely to experiment and progress to established smoking. Baseline alcohol and drug use, behavioral undercontrol, and parental smoking predicted smoking experimentation but not established smoking. Students of Korean ethnicity were more likely to become established smokers. However, acculturation was not a significant predictor of experimentation or established smoking after accounting for the effects of other predictors. Conclusion: These findings suggest a need for efforts to prevent smoking uptake among Asian American college students. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Smoking cessation: Progress, priorities, and prospectus.

The authors review developments in understanding smoking cessation interventions over the past decade. Noteworthy is the unprecedented growth of research and knowledge that has left a deeper understanding of how best to use new and existing behavioral and pharmacologic tools and strategies to help smokers quit. The status of public-health-level interventions is evaluated, questions are raised concerning their efficacy, and suggestions are offered for further refinement of these intervention strategies. Development of cessation guidelines is reviewed, and the state of knowledge concerning behavioral and pharmacologic interventions is summarized. The authors also present agendas for behavioral and pharmacologic research related to smoking cessation and discuss individual difference factors among smokers that may prove to be important in designing new and refining existing treatments. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Neighborhood effects on physical and mental health: A study of Korean American older adults.

This study explored how the physical and mental health of Korean American older adults were influenced by neighborhood characteristics (i.e., proportion of individuals living below the poverty level, proportion of individuals 65 years of age and older, and proportion of racial/ethnic minorities in the census block groups where each respondent lived). Health perceptions (i.e., the subjective appraisal of one's own health) and depressive symptoms were used as indicators of physical and mental health. Multilevel analyses were performed with 567 individuals (at Level 1) nested within 233 census block groups (at Level 2). After controlling for individual demographic and health characteristics, we found that neighborhood poverty predicted health perceptions. The results add to the growing literature on the influence of the social environment and suggest that neighborhood characteristics should be taken into consideration in developing community-based policies for racially/ethnically diverse populations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Daily Processes in Stress and Smoking: Effects of Negative Events, Nicotine Dependence, and Gender.

The author used a multilevel daily process design to examine relations among daily negative events, perceived stress, smoking, and smoking urges. The moderating effects of gender and nicotine dependence were also explored. Fifty-one adult community-residing smokers recorded negative events, perceived stress, cigarette smoking, and urges to smoke 4 times daily for 14 days. Analyses of within-person relations showed that participants smoked more cigarettes and experienced more urges to smoke on occasions with higher numbers of negative events and higher levels of perceived stress. These relations were stronger for men than for women. Nicotine dependence did not interact with events or stress in predicting smoking or urges. These findings build on laboratory studies and cross-sectional surveys by showing that in naturalistic settings, occasions with negative events and perceived stress are associated with smoking and urges to smoke. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mental health and substance use disorders among Latino and Asian American lesbian, gay, and bisexual adults.

Growing evidence suggests that lesbian, gay, and bisexual adults may be at elevated risk for mental health and substance use disorders, possibly due to anti-gay stigma. Little of this work has examined putative excess morbidity among ethnic/racial minorities resulting from the experience of multiple sources of discrimination. The authors report findings from the National Latino and Asian American Survey (NLAAS), a national household probability psychiatric survey of 4,488 Latino and Asian American adults. Approximately 4.8% of persons interviewed identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual, and/or reported recent same-gender sexual experiences. Although few sexual orientation-related differences were observed, among men, gay/bisexual men were more likely than heterosexual men to report a recent suicide attempt. Among women, lesbian/bisexual women were more likely than heterosexual women to evidence positive 1-year and lifetime histories of depressive disorders. These findings suggest a small elevation in psychiatric morbidity risk among Latino and Asian American individuals with a minority sexual orientation. However, the level of morbidity among sexual orientation minorities in the NLAAS appears similar to or lower than that observed in population-based studies of lesbian, gay, and bisexual adults. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Money and subjective well-being: It's not the money, it's the motives.

Past researchers have argued that the relative importance a person attaches to money is negatively related to subjective well-being (SWB). However, the past research suffers from the theoretical problem of not including the different motives for making money. With a sample of 240 business students, the authors developed a set of scales to measure motives for making money. They used a sample of 492 business students to confirm the factor structure of these motives. With another sample of 266 business students, the authors found that the negative relationship between money importance and SWB was due to the two variables being the result of a common cause; namely, the motives of social comparison, seeking power, showing off, and overcoming self-doubt. This finding was replicated with a sample of 145 entrepreneurs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Constructing a short form of the Smoking Consequences Questionnaire with adolescents and young adults.

The goal of the present studies was to construct and validate a short form of the 50-item Smoking Consequences Questionnaire (SCQ; T. H. Brandon & T. B. Baker, 1991), a measure of smoking outcome expectancies. In Study 1, a 21-item short form (S-SCQ) was derived from a sample of 107 young adults previously treated for substance abuse. In Study 2, the measure was cross-validated on 125 adolescents in treatment for substance abuse. Confirmatory factor analyses revealed good model fit and factorial invariance for the 4 S-SCQ subscales across both samples. Validation analyses on each sample found that subscale scores generally correlated significantly with smoking-related variables. The present studies provide initial evidence for the utility of the S-SCQ when used with young adults and adolescents. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Rapid Smoking as a Technique of Behavior Modification: Caution in Selection of Subjects.

Comment by Robert Hauser regarding the article by Lichtenstein, Edward; et al (see record 1973-21539-001) on the modification of smoking behavior. Hauser states that rapid smoking as a method of aversion therapy must be seriously questioned because of the potentially harmful effects it can have on certain people with advanced coronary artery disease. Unless extensive screening techniques are used to evaluate each participant in advance of aversive therapy, the procedure could possibly precipitate a fatal heart attack. While the method probably would not seriously affect people without coronary disease, it should be noted that rapid smoking can lead to the absorption of increased amounts of nicotine into the system. As a result of ethics, Hauser cannot condone the further use of the technique in studies on the modification of smoking behavior unless subjects are first given adequate medical evaluation and clearance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Smoking, stress, and negative affect: Correlation, causation, and context across stages of smoking.

This transdisciplinary review of the literature addresses the questions, Do stress and negative affect (NA) promote smoking? and Does smoking genuinely relieve stress and NA? Drawing on both human and animal literatures, the authors examine these questions across three developmental stages of smoking--initiation, maintenance, and relapse. Methodological and conceptual distinctions relating to within- and between-subjects levels of analyses are emphasized throughout the review. Potential mechanisms underlying links between stress and NA and smoking are also reviewed. Relative to direct-effect explanations, the authors argue that contextual mediator-moderator approaches hold greater potential for elucidating complex associations between NA and stress and smoking. The authors conclude with recommendations for research initiatives that draw on more sophisticated theories and methodologies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Smoking Among Psychiatric Outpatients: Relationship to Substance Use, Diagnosis, and Illness Severity.

To understand the elevated smoking rates among psychiatric patients, the authors investigated whether psychiatric diagnosis, illness severity, and other substance use predicted smoking status in a diverse sample (N=2,774) of psychiatric outpatients. Results indicated that 61% smoked daily and that 18% smoked heavily. Smoking was related to psychiatric diagnosis and illness severity as well as caffeine consumption and substance abuse. Diagnoses of bipolar disorder, schizoaffective disorder, and schizophrenia were independently related to smoking status, an association that was most pronounced among persons treated at clinics serving more impaired patients. Thus, diagnosis and illness severity contribute to elevated smoking rates, even after controlling for other substance use. Cessation programs are needed to reduce tobacco use in this vulnerable population. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Do men outperform women in smoking cessation trials?: Maybe, but not by much.

Using data from 4 smoking cessation trials conducted from 1988 to 2000, the authors investigated whether men are more successful than women in quitting smoking. Odds ratios indicated that the abstinence rates were not significantly different for men and women. Thus, there may be little value to diverting research funds from efforts to develop more effective treatments for both men and women to efforts to explain a very small gender effect associated with existing treatments. However, it may be appropriate to make gender comparisons for new therapies for nicotine dependence. The authors recommend against analyses of gender differences in studies that do not account for gender in their research designs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Measurement of smoking outcome expectancies in children: The Smoking Consequences Questionnaire-Child.

A measure of smoking outcome expectancies was developed for children ages 7-12 years. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to determine whether a 1-, 2-, 3-, or 4-factor solution was most appropriate for the data set. CFA revealed that the 3-factor model produced the most adequate fit (Positive Reinforcement, Negative Consequences, and Weight Control). The resulting 15-item measure was named the Smoking Consequences Questionnaire-Child (SCQ-C). The fit of the 3-dimensional structure was then examined separately for 3 age groups representing young (7- to 8-year-old), middle (9- to 10-year-old), and old (11- to 13-year-old) children. Overall, the 3-factor structure fit the data well for the 3 groups. As such, we examined the relations of the 3 scales with antecedent variables for the entire sample. The Positive Reinforcement scale was associated with children's smoking behavior and having a family member or peers who smoked. The Negative Consequences scale was inversely related to having a family member or peer who smoked. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of Transdermal Nicotine During Imaginal Exposure to Anxiety and Smoking Cues in College Smokers.

In a 2 (patch) × 2 (smoking) × 2 (anxiety) mixed design, 52 undergraduate smokers randomly received a nicotine (21 mg) or placebo patch. After a 4-hr nicotine absorption/deprivation period, participants imagined several scenarios varying in cue content: (a) anxiety plus smoking, (b) anxiety, (c) smoking, and (d) neutral. Although smoking urge increased in both the nicotine and placebo conditions after the absorption/deprivation period, those who received the placebo reported significantly greater urge. During the cue reactivity trials, a significant Patch × Smoking × Anxiety interaction effect was observed for urge. However, participants who received nicotine still experienced moderate urges, indicating that nicotine did not attenuate cue-elicited urge. Transdermal nicotine did not diminish anxiety during the absorption/deprivation period or in response to the cues. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Dynamic Self-Efficacy and Outcome Expectancies: Prediction of Smoking Lapse and Relapse.

According to social learning models of drug relapse, decreases in abstinence self-efficacy (ASE) and increases in positive smoking outcome expectancies (POEs) should foreshadow lapses and relapse. In this study, the authors examined this hypothesis by using ecological momentary assessment data from 305 smokers who achieved initial abstinence from smoking and monitored their smoking and their ASE and POEs by using palmtop computers. Daily ASE and POEs predicted the occurrence of a 1st lapse on the following day. Following a lapse, variations in daily ASE predicted the onset of relapse, even after controlling for concurrent smoking. ASE and POEs generally neither mediated nor moderated each other's effects. These data emphasize the role of dynamic factors in the relapse process. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Smoking cessation in peri- and postmenopausal women: A review.

A substantial portion of smokers are peri- or postmenopausal women. Cigarette smoking and menopause have overlapping negative health consequences and may act synergistically to contribute to worse health outcomes in this population. Little is known about issues specific to peri- and postmenopausal women attempting to quit smoking; however, it can be hypothesized that they face unique challenges in quitting smoking. Particularly, negative affect and vasomotor menopausal symptoms may make smoking cessation particularly challenging in this group of women. Peri- and postmenopausal women are also more prone to weight gain following smoking cessation, and concerns about postcessation weight gain may contribute to reduced motivation to quit smoking or to relapse to smoking. Recent evidence suggests that estrogen level may be positively associated with nicotine reward, which may aid in the smoking cessation efforts of postmenopausal women while possibly contributing to worse outcomes in perimenopausal women. Unfortunately, no known studies have compared premenopausal women with peri- or postmenopausal women on smoking cessation outcome variables. Studies in postmenopausal women indicate that hormone therapy (HT) use does not affect nicotine withdrawal, smoking cessation outcomes, or weight gain following smoking cessation; however, a lack of randomized trials limits the strength of these conclusions. Evidence of the effects of HT on mood following smoking cessation is conflicting. Further research is needed to identify the unique factors influencing smoking cessation in peri- and postmenopausal women and to develop and test interventions that target these variables in a way that improves cessation rates among this population. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Work and health outcomes among police officers: The mediating role of police cynicism and engagement.

This study examined the relationship between personality variables (Type A), job demands and job resources, and police cynicism and engagement, and also examined the mediating role of cynicism and work engagement in predicting both work and health related outcomes among police officers. The participants were 150 Norwegian police officers, and data were collected using questionnaires. Results showed that Type A behavior was related to both cynicism and engagement. As predicted, both job demands and lack of job resources were related to cynicism, and job resources were positively related to engagement. A series of regression analyses indicated direct relationships between Type A behavior, job demands and health complaints with no mediating effect of cynicism. Work engagement partially mediated the effects of individual characteristics, job demands and job resources on organizational commitment and self-efficacy. However, direct links between demands and resources and organizational commitment were also found, as well as direct links between Type A behavior, work demands and self-efficacy. The implications of work engagement for organizations were discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)