Description
TitleProfiles of reactive transdiagnostic vulnerabilities among cigarette smokers
Date Created2018
Other Date2018-05 (degree)
Extent1 online resource (v, 34 p. : ill.)
DescriptionAmong cigarette smokers, elevations in maladaptive transdiagnostic vulnerabilities, including distress intolerance (DI), anxiety sensitivity (AS), and experiential avoidance (EA) are associated with poorer outcomes across the course of use. A common mechanism underlying these outcomes is thought to be an increase in the frequency and intensity of negative affect elicited during nicotine use brought about by these elevations. Despite commonalities, to date no investigation has examined whether smokers can be characterized by latent subgroups of shared vulnerability profiles. To examine potential subgroups, a latent profile analysis (LPA) was conducted among a sample of treatment-seeking daily smokers (N = 435), with measures of DI, AS, and EA serving as indicators of class members, and demographic variables, smoking heaviness, motives, and expectancies serving as covariates. The initial model solution revealed that specific covariates exerted a direct effect on profile structure, necessitating a re-examination of the latent profile solution, including covariates that exhibited a significant pairwise association in the previous best-fitting model. The final model revealed a three-profile solution, wherein smokers were characterized primarily by Low EA (35.7% of the sample), Elevated EA (53.3%), or Elevated AS (11%). Individuals who endorsed smoking because of its addictive qualities were more likely to be members of the Elevated AS or Elevated EA profiles, relative to the Low EA profile. In addition, individuals of lower educational achievement were more likely to be members of the Elevated AS profile than the Elevated or Low EA profiles. Results provide preliminary evidence that treatment-seeking smokers exhibit discriminable transdiagnostic profiles, and that profiles are differentially related to demographics and smoking-specific outcomes.
NoteM.S.
NoteIncludes bibliographical references
Noteby Mark V. Versella Jr.
Genretheses, ETD graduate
Languageeng
CollectionSchool of Graduate Studies Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Organization NameRutgers, The State University of New Jersey
RightsThe author owns the copyright to this work.
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