Combustible cigarette smokers versus e-cigarette dual users among Latinx individuals: Differences in alcohol and drug use severity.

The Latinx population in the United States (U.S.) experiences significant tobacco and other substance use-related health disparities. Yet, little is known about the couse of combustible cigarettes and e-cigarettes (dual use) in relation to substance use behavior among Latinx smokers. The present investigation compared English-speaking Latinx adults living in the United States who exclusively smoke combustible cigarettes versus dual users in terms of alcohol use and other drug use problem severity. Participants were 297 Hispanic/Latinx daily cigarette smokers (36.4% female, Mage = 35.9 years, SD = 8.87) recruited nationally across the United States using Qualtrics Panels to complete self-report measures of behavioral health outcomes. Five analysis of covariance models were conducted to evaluate differences in overall alcohol consumption, dependence, related problems, hazardous drinking, and drug use problem severity between exclusive combustible cigarette smokers (N = 205) and dual users (N = 92). Results indicated that dual users evinced greater levels of alcohol consumption, dependence, alcohol-related problems, and hazardous drinking compared to exclusive combustible cigarette smokers (ps < .001). Dual users also reported greater levels of drug use problems relative to exclusive combustible cigarette smokers (p < .001). The current findings are among the first to document that dual cigarette and e-cigarette use status (compared to exclusive combustible cigarette smoking) may serve as a clinically relevant risk indicator for a range of deleterious substance use problems among Latinx individuals. Future research is needed to corroborate these findings and examine dual-use status as a longitudinal predictor of alcohol and other substance-related problems. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Pain Severity in Relation to Smoking Cessation Problems and Self-Efficacy for Quitting among Latinx Individuals Who Smoke Cigarettes: The Moderating Role of Perceived Discrimination.

Background: Latinx individuals experience significant tobacco cigarette smoking-related diseases and illnesses. Although most Latinx smokers report a desire to quit smoking, evidenced-based cessation treatments are underutilized in this group, which may partially be due to lower likelihood of receiving advice from a healthcare professional. Further, there are a lack of cessation treatments that account for comorbid symptoms/conditions (e.g., co-occurring pain) and social determinants of health (e.g., perceived discrimination). Extant work has established the reciprocal relation between pain and smoking trajectories. Additionally, although social determinants, such as perceived racial/ethnic discrimination, have demonstrated clinical relevance to a variety of health-related behaviors, limited work has examined the role of perceived discrimination in pain-smoking relations. The current study examined the effects of perceived discrimination and pain severity in relation to smoking cessation problems and self-efficacy for quitting among Latinx cigarette smokers. Method: Participants included 226 (Mage = 34.95 years, SD = 8.62; 38.5% female) adult Latinx daily cigarette smokers. Results: Results indicated that the interaction of pain and perceived discrimination was predictive of greater quit problems (p = 0.041) as well as greater confidence in the ability to refrain from smoking in response to internal (p < 0.001) and external stimuli (p < 0.001). Conclusions: Overall, this work provides a more nuanced understanding of the psychosocial contexts in which Latinx smokers may encounter problems related to quitting, and this data is important for future smoking cessation research and treatment.

Differences in smoking behavior and beliefs about abstinence among Latinx individuals with and without depression who smoke cigarettes.

There is a well-established relation between depression and smoking in the general population. However, past work focused on Latinx persons who smoke in relation to depressed affect has yielded inconsistent findings. The present investigation aimed to build on past research and evaluate differences among English-speaking Latinx adults who smoke combustible cigarettes with and without probable depression in terms of cigarette dependence, perceived barriers for quitting, severity of problems when quitting, and smoking abstinence expectancies. The current sample included 338 adult Latinx daily cigarette smokers (Mage = 35.53 years; SD = 8.65; age range 18-61; 37.3% female) that were recruited nationally throughout the US. Results indicated that among Latinx persons who smoke, those with probable depression (compared to those without) demonstrated higher levels of cigarette dependence, more severe problems when trying to quit, greater perceived barriers for quitting, and increased negative abstinence expectancies after adjusting for sociodemographic and concurrent substance use variables. Future work could build from this research to elucidate the role of depression in the maintenance and relapse of smoking among the Latinx population.

Anxiety sensitivity in terms of mental health among a racially and ethnically diverse sample of sexual minority college students.

Objective: Limited work has focused on understanding the function of individual difference factors in terms of mental health among sexual minority college students. Anxiety sensitivity is one individual difference factor which has received substantial empirical attention, but its role is presently understudied among racially/ethnically diverse sexual minority college students.Participants: Participants included a racially and ethnically diverse sample of sexual minority college students (N = 217; Mage = 20.82 years; SD = 3.06).Methods: The present investigation evaluated the role of anxiety sensitivity in relation to anxious arousal, social anxiety, depression, and suicidality.Results: Results indicated that anxiety sensitivity was significantly related to increased anxious arousal, social anxiety, depression, and suicidality after adjusting for age, sex, relationship status, subjective social status, and neuroticism.Conclusions: This investigation provides the first empirical evidence that anxiety sensitivity is related to poorer mental health outcomes for racially/ethnically diverse sexual minority college students.

Alcohol use severity in relation to pain severity and interference among latinx adults with current pain who smoke cigarettes.

Limited research has focused expressly on dual tobacco-alcohol use among the Latinx population. Latinx individuals who smoke represent a tobacco health disparities group and evince elevated rates of pain problems and symptoms. Prior research has consistently linked pain problems and severity to smoking and alcohol prevalence, maintenance, and behavior. Accordingly, the current study sought to build from the limited work that exists among Latinx persons who smoke and evaluate the role of alcohol use severity in terms of pain severity and interference. The current sample consisted of 228 adult Latinx daily cigarette smokers (Mage = 34.95 years; SD = 8.58; 39.0% female) who endorsed current pain. Results indicated that elevated alcohol use problems were associated with greater levels of pain severity (R2 = 0.06) and interference (R2 = 0.06). The present findings suggest that there may be utility in clinical screening for alcohol use problems among Latinx persons who smoke to offset pain problems among this high-risk group.

Role of perceived discrimination and anxiety sensitivity in cigarette smoking among english-speaking latinx adults living in the United States.

OBJECTIVE: The Latinx/Hispanic (hereafter, Latinx) population in the United States (US) experiences significant tobacco-related health disparities. Extant work suggests social determinants of health (SDoH) such as perceived discrimination is an individual differences factor for cigarette smoking behavior among Latinx individuals who smoke cigarettes. Other research has suggested sensitivity to internal cues, referred to as anxiety sensitivity, is related to smoking among Latinx adults, but this work has not explored whether anxiety sensitivity may moderate the association between perceived discrimination and smoking behavior. METHOD: Therefore, the present investigation sought to explore the main and interactive association of perceived discrimination and anxiety sensitivity in relation to cigarettes smoked per day, severity of problems experienced when quitting, and perceived barriers for smoking cessation among 338 English-speaking Latinx individuals living in the US (Mage = 35.5 years; SD = 8.65; age range 18-61; 37.3% female) who smoke cigarettes. RESULTS: Results supported statistically significant main effects for perceived discrimination and anxiety sensitivity in relation to increased severity of problems experienced when quitting and perceived barriers for smoking cessation. These associations were evident after adjusting for a sociodemographic covariates. CONCLUSION: Overall, the present investigation suggests that both perceived discrimination and anxiety sensitivity are important constructs relevant to understanding smoking processes among Latinx adults who smoke cigarettes and should be integrated in theoretical models of smoking among this population.

Perceived Racial/Ethnic Discrimination and Smoking Outcome Expectancies among Adult Latinx Smokers Living in the United States.

Background: Smoking-related health disparities are prevalent in the Latinx community in the United States (US). Although Social Determinants of Health (SDoH) are known to contribute to a myriad of health problems among the Latinx population, there is relatively limited work expressly aimed at elucidating SDoH among Latinx smokers. Perceived racial/ethnic discrimination is one SDoH construct that may be especially relevant to understanding smoking-related cognition for Latinx smokers in the US. Smoking outcome expectancies, reflecting beliefs about the consequences of smoking, are established cognitive processes that have been linked to the maintenance and relapse of smoking. The purpose of the present work is to investigate perceived racial/ethnic discrimination in relation to smoking outcome expectancies amongst Latinx smokers in the US. Method: Participants included 338 English-speaking Latinx adult daily cigarette smokers from the US (Mage = 35.5 years; SD = 8.65; age range 18-61; 37.3% female). Results: Results indicated that perceived racial/ethnic discrimination was related to greater levels of negative reinforcement, positive reinforcement, and appetite-weight control expectancies, but not negative consequences expectancies. Discussion: Overall, the current findings provide novel insight into the relationship between perceived racial/ethnic discrimination and smoking outcome expectancies amongst English-speaking Latinx cigarette users in the US.

Perceived racial/ethnic discrimination in relation to smoking abstinence expectancies among adult Latinx smokers in the United States.

INTRODUCTION: Hispanic/Latinx (hereafter Latinx) individuals in the United States (US) face unique smoking-related health disparities, including limited access to care and health insurance for smoking treatment. Social determinants of health (SDoH) have received increased recognition in their role of smoking behavior and cessation. However, research on SDoH in Latinx smoking populations has been limited. Past research on non-Latinx white individuals has found smoking abstinence expectancies to be an integral cognitive process related to multiple aspects of smoking behavior, and its role has also been understudied in Latinx individuals. Perceived racial/ethnic discrimination is one SDoH, but its role in relation to abstinence expectancies among Latinx smokers has not been explored. Therefore, the present investigation sought to evaluate perceived racial/ethnic discrimination in terms of smoking abstinence expectancies among Latinx smokers living in the US. METHODS: Participants included 338 English-speaking Latinx adult daily cigarette smokers (Mage = 35.5 years; SD = 8.65; age range 18-61; 37.3 % female) recruited nationally throughout the US using Qualtrics Panels. RESULTS: Results supported statistically significant main effects for perceived racial/ethnic discrimination in relation to increased smoking abstinence expectancies of negative mood, somatic symptoms, harmful consequences, and positive consequences (p's < 0.001). DISCUSSION: Overall, the results of the present investigation build from a limited body of work on perceived racial/ethnic discrimination and smoking and provide novel evidence of consistent and moderate incremental associations between perceived racial/ethnic discrimination and negative and positive smoking abstinence expectancies among Latinx smokers.

Anxiety sensitivity and its association with perceived barriers for quitting, smoking inflexibility, and severity of quit problems among Black smokers.

Black individuals who smoke in the United States experience health disparities related to tobacco use (e.g., greater nicotine dependence, less success in quitting smoking) and interoceptive distress (e.g., somatic symptoms, anxiety). Individual difference factors that amplify interoceptive distress and contribute to poorer smoking behaviors and outcomes warrant further attention and investigation. Thus, the present study sought to explore the association between anxiety sensitivity and clinically-relevant smoking variables of perceived barriers for quitting, smoking inflexibility, and problems experienced during past quit attempts. Participants in the current study included 98 Black adult smokers (71.4% male; Mage = 44.08 years, SD = 11.44 years). Results indicated greater levels of anxiety sensitivity were associated with greater levels of perceived barriers for quitting smoking (b = 0.10, SE = 0.08, p = 0.01), smoking inflexibility (b = 0.02, SE <.001, p <.001), and problems experienced during past smoking quit attempts (b = 0.17, SE = 0.07, p = 0.02). Clinical implications and future directions are further discussed as it relates to anxiety sensitivity and efforts to reduce or quit smoking for this health disparities population.