Emotion dysregulation and smoking among treatment-seeking smokers

Introduction There has been increased scholarly interest in advancing the study of emotion dysregulation and substance use. However, there is limited study of emotion dysregulation in the context of smoking. The current study examined the emotion dysregulation global construct and sub facets in relation to negative affect reduction expectancies, coping motives, perceived barriers for quitting, and the severity of problems experienced during quit attempts. Method Treatment seeking smokers (n = 469; 48.2% female, M _age = 36.59, SD = 13.58) enrolled in a smoking cessation trial and completed baseline measures of smoking cognitions and emotion dysregulation. Results Results indicated that the emotion dysregulation global score was significantly associated with each of the smoking dependent variables. Additionally, difficulty accessing emotion regulation strategies and difficulty engaging in goal-directed behavior were significantly associated with the dependent variables. Conclusion Overall, this is the first study to evaluate relations between multidimensional facets of emotion dysregulation and clinically relevant smoking variables. Emotion dysregulation may be an important treatment target for changing smoking.