Farris SG, et al. – The focus of the presented study was to investigate differences in tobacco demand and delay discounting, and their relationship with smoking topography among smokers with and without past–year psychopathology. Researchers reported that the relationship between tobacco demand and delay discounting is evident among smokers with psychopathology and both measures were most consistently related to smoking behavior.

Methods

• Adult daily smokers (n = 107, M_age = 43.5; SD = 9.7) partook in an examination on “smoking behavior.”
• Past-year psychological disorders were surveyed by means of a clinician-administered diagnostic assessment.
• All subjects took part in an ad libitum smoking trial and then completed an assessment of delay discounting (Monetary Choice Questionnaire) and tobacco demand (Cigarette Purchase Task) approximately 45–60 min post-smoking.

Results

• The results of this study showed that smokers with psychopathology, contrasted with those without, had significantly higher demand intensity and maximum expenditure on tobacco (O_max), but did not differ on other demand indices or delay discounting.
• It was observed in the findings that smokers with psychopathology had shorter average inter-puff intervals and shorter time to cigarette completion than smokers without psychopathology.
• Findings revealed that tobacco demand and delay discounting measures were significantly intercorrelated among smokers with psychopathology, but not those without.
• Both behavioral economic measures were related to specific aspects of smoking topography in smokers with psychopathology.