SENSATION SEEKERS AT RISK FOR SMOKING
by Kenneth A. Perkins, Ph.D., Debra Gerlach,
Michelle Broge and James E. Grobe, Ph.D., and Annette Wilson
The personality characteristic of sensation seeking (the
tendency to seek varied, novel, complex and intense sensations and
experiences) is associated with a greater risk of smoking, and this may be due to greater initial sensitivity to nicotine.
The study found that those scoring high on sensation seeking
personality measures were more sensitized to nicotine's mood altering
influences when the nicotine dose was at the lower level tested (10 mg/kg).
This dose mimics the level of nicotine likely obtained by teens
experimenting with smoking. If similar results are seen with teenagers
during early tobacco experimentation, say the authors, interventions focused
on teens high in sensation seeking traits may help with smoking prevention
efforts.
In the study, psychologist Kenneth A. Perkins, Ph.D., and other researchers
from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and the Children's
Hospital of Pittsburgh assessed the subjective responses (mood states and
physical feelings like "relaxed" and "jittery") and cardiovascular responses
(heart rate and blood pressure) of 37 young adult nonsmokers (ages 21 - 40)
after using a nasal nicotine spray at different doses (0, 10 and 20 mg/kg)
on three separate occasions. Nonsmokers were used to avoid the effect of
chronic tolerance through long-term exposure to nicotine from smoking. A
group of 55 smokers was also included in the study to determine whether
sensation seeking was associated specifically with initial sensitivity to
nicotine.
The researchers found greater responses to nicotine's subjective effects in
nonsmokers who had higher sensation seeking personality scores. The
results, say the authors, are very similar to findings of other studies
involving d-amphetamines and suggests that "the increase in sensitivity to
drugs due to sensation seeking may be broad and not specific to nicotine."
Very few relationships were found between sensation seeking and subjective
responses to nicotine in smokers, which provides evidence that this
personality type is related to initial, and not general, sensitivity to
nicotine.
As expected, the researchers did not find a significant association between
sensation seeking and heart rate and blood pressure responses to nicotine in
nonsmokers. This suggests, say the authors, "that this personality
characteristic is not related to all nicotine responses but may be
specifically associated with mood altering experiences and other effects
that may be relevant to nicotine reinforcement."
12/19/00
Reference
- Kenneth
A. Perkins, Ph.D., Debra Gerlach, Michelle Broge, James E. Grobe,
Ph.D., and Annette Wilson. Greater Sensitivity to Subjective
Effects of Nicotine in Nonsmokers High in Sensation Seeking. Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology,
Vol. 8, No. 4.
Back
|
