Distress Tolerance is Indirectly Related to Nicotine Use through the Smoking Motives

Abstract

Background and objectives

Previous research has shown that low ability to tolerate distress is indirectly related to problematic substance use through the substance use motives. This topic has been previously researched in alcohol and cannabis use; however, it has not yet been explored in tobacco use. We studied whether distress tolerance is indirectly associated with nicotine dependence through motives of tension reduction and habitual smoking.

Design and Methods

A total sample of 451 (230 of which were women) daily and occasional Polish smokers (aged from 18 to 60 years) reported distress tolerance, motives for smoking, and nicotine dependence. We then conducted a mediation analysis with bootstrapping using PROCESS macro.

Results

Distress tolerance was indirectly related to nicotine dependence through both motives independently. In terms of the sequential model, there was a significant indirect effect of distress tolerance on nicotine dependence through smoking motives: tension reduction and habit. The total effect of distress tolerance on nicotine dependence was insignificant.

Conclusions

Our findings suggest that individuals with low distress tolerance are especially prone to nicotine dependence if they use smoking as a coping mechanism and it becomes habitual. The current study highlights the importance of a multidimensional approach in dealing with nicotine dependence.

Keywords:

• Distress tolerance
• nicotine dependence
• mediation
• smoking motives
• tension reduction
• habit

Declaration of interest

The authors report no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in this study were approved by the Research Ethics Committee of the Institute of Psychology, University of Wroclaw and in accordance with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.