Differences in individual dimension of impulsivity and temperament depending on the degree of smoking dependence
Abstract
Objective: Cigarette smoking addiction belongs among one of the most common types of drug addictions in the Czech Republic. Among the many factors contributing to someone starting to smoke, as well as, to the development and maintenance of nicotine addiction, personality factors and especially the multidimensional construct of impulsivity has been identified as significant.
However, there is no consensus on which impulsivity dimensions are crucial for the development of smoking dependence. The influence of the tendency to act rashly while in extreme positive or negative mood is assumed.
Also, it seems that there is a difference in impulsivity dimensions in men and women. The first aim of this study was to determine whether male and female smokers differ from each other in impul-sivity dimensions.
The second aim was to examine the differences between three groups of smokers with different intensity of addiction to nicotine. Method: This study analyzed a group of 60 smokers with varying degrees of nicotine dependence.
The overall sample was divided into three groups (no addiction, moderate addiction, severe addiction) based on the Fagerstrom Test for Nicotine Dependence. The concept of impulsivity was assessed by Cloninger's Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) and the UPPS-P scale.
Results: The results showed statistically significant differences in the scores of some impulsivity dimensions related to gender. Likewise, the results showed that impulsivity decreases with age in most of the monitored dimensions.
Differences were particularly found for damage avoidance (?2(2) = 9,06, p = 0,01), were the group of participants without physical dependence achieved significantly lower scores in comparison to the groups of participants with moderate and severe dependence. The connection between the nicotine dependency and impulsivity dimensions associated with emotional distress was found (mainly in women).
Conclusion: These results suggest that different impulsivity dimensions influence the development, as well as, the maintenance of nicotine addiction in men and women. And also, a relation between nicotine dependence and impulsivity associated with emotional distress suggests that the anxiolytic and relaxing effects of nicotine play an important role in the development and maintenance of nicotine dependence, because they help to manage these emotions.