The relation of affective processing measures and smoking motivation indices among college-age smokers

Two studies examined the relation among affective processing measures as assessed by the Affective Information Processing Questionnaire (AIPQ) and smoking indices. The AIPQ assesses attributional style, expectations regarding the strength, frequency, and duration of affective reactions, and expectations regarding the controllability of affective reactions both by smoking and by other means in response to a series of vignettes depicting stressful situations. In the first study, 195 undergraduates completed the AIPQ along with measures of affect and smoking. Results indicated satisfactory reliability for the AIPQ scales. A subsample of Study 1 subjects (n=49) were exposed to a laboratory stressor in Study 2. Results indicated that the affect control expectations measures predicted post-stressor measures of negative affect, urge to smoke, negative reinforcement from smoking, and alveolar carbon monoxide value. Attributional style and expectations regarding affective reactions did not consistently predict post-stressor measures. The relation of affective processing to smoking motivation and relapse is discussed.