The examination of the relation between physiological and psychological components of stress reactivity and recovery in cigarette smokers

Cigarette smoking is a major cause of cardiovascular disease, and empirical research suggests that smoking is associated with short and long-term dysregulation of cardiovascular functioning. Adult smokers exhibit blunted heart rate reactivity during stress, and although dysregulated cardiovascular reactivity is associated with long-term consequences, such as morbidity and mortality, less is known about the immediate effects of dysregulated cardiovascular reactivity. Dysregulated reactivity, or a blunted response, may have more immediate effects on an individual’s physiological and subjective recovery from stress by slowing recovery. Yet, research examining the relation between the physiological and subjective components of the stress response report equivocal findings, and there is limited research examining this relation in adult daily smokers. Further, individual traits, such as distress intolerance (DI), or the inability to tolerate distress, may moderate the effect of stress reactivity on recovery, in line with a biopsychosocial model. Taken together, variability in reactivity to stress may predict recovery in an individual’s physiological arousal and anxious arousal following stress, which may be moderated by individual traits. The current study examined whether dysregulated, or attenuated, physiological reactivity predicted recovery in anxious arousal and vice versa, and whether DI moderated this relation. Fifty-six adult daily smokers completed a self-report measure of DI, a ten-minute baseline period, followed by a four-minute stressor (i.e., the CO2 challenge), and a ten-minute recovery period. Heart rate and self-reported anxiety were assessed continuously over the baseline, challenge, and recovery periods. The results of growth curve models indicated significant linear and quadratic effects for heart rate reactivity on recovery in anxiety as well as significant linear and quadratic effects for anxiety reactivity on recovery in heart rate. There was also a significant linear effect of DI on heart rate. These findings suggest that individuals with greater reactivity to stress in one domain showed greater responsivity to stress in the other domain, which was then followed by faster recovery in subjective and physiological arousal. This observed relation may be important for understanding the interplay of cognitive, affective, and physiological processes that maintain smoking or contribute to lapse.M.S.Includes bibliographical referencesby Allison Borge