Does exercise aid smoking cessation through reductions in anxiety sensitivity and dysphoria?

Abstract

Objective: Research shows that high anxiety sensitivity (AS) and dysphoria are related to poor smoking cessation outcomes. Engaging in exercise may contribute to improvement in smoking cessation outcomes through reductions in AS and dysphoria. In the current study, we examined whether exercise can aid smoking cessation through reductions in AS and dysphoria.

Method: Participants were sedentary and low activity adult daily smokers (N = 136) with elevated AS who participated in a randomized controlled trial comparing smoking cessation treatment (ST) plus an exercise intervention (ST + EX) to ST plus wellness education (ST + CTRL). Self-reported smoking status was assessed in-person weekly from baseline through week 16 (end of-treatment; EOT), at week 22 (4 months postquit day), and at week 30 (6 months postquit day), and verified biochemically.

Results: Results indicated that both AS and dysphoria at 6-month follow-up were significantly lower in the ST + EX group compared to the ST + CTRL group (controlling for baseline levels). Moreover, reductions in AS and dysphoria emerged as independent mechanisms of action explaining success in quitting.

Conclusions: These novel findings offer clinically significant evidence suggesting that vigorous-intensity exercise can effectively engage affective constructs in the context of smoking cessation. (PsycINFO Database Record

(c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Figures

Figure 1. Mediation Model

Note. *p ≤.05, **p ≤ .01, ***p ≤ .001. Treatment condition differences in Abstinence were at the 6-month follow-up. PPA = point prevalence abstinence and PA = prolonged abstinence. Treatment condition effects are at the 6-month follow-up. The subscripts “t” (for AS and Dysphoria) and “t+1” (for Abstinence) indicate that the mediators at each assessment were used to predict abstinence at the next assessment. Estimated parameters that were not central to the test of mediation are omitted to improve interpretability. The superscripts “CTRL” and “EX” refer to the values of the path from anxiety sensitivity to abstinence (b1) in the control condition and in the exercise condition, respectively.