Cigarette Cravings May Result from Habit, Not Addiction

A novel study has found that the intensity of cravings for cigarettes has more to do with the psychosocial element of smoking than with the physiological effects of nicotine as an addictive chemical.

Researchers at Tel Aviv University (TAU; Israel) monitored the smoking behavior and craving levels of in-flight attendants, both women and men, who worked at the Israeli airline El Al. Each participant was monitored during two flights - a long flight of 10 to 13 hours in duration, such as from Tel Aviv (Israel) to New York (NY, USA); and a two-hop shorter trip from Israel to Europe and back, each leg lasting three to five hours. With the aid of a questionnaire, craving levels of the attendants were sampled throughout the duration of their flights.

The researchers found that the duration of the flight had no significant impact on craving levels, which were similar for both short and long flights. Moreover, craving levels at the end of each short flight were as high as those at the end of the long flight, demonstrating that cravings increased in anticipation of the flight landing, whatever the flight's total duration. The researchers concluded that the craving effect is produced by psychological cues, rather than by the physiological effects of nicotine deprivation. The study was published in the February 2010 issue of the Journal of Abnormal Psychology.

"People who smoke do so for short-term benefits like oral gratification, sensory pleasure, and social camaraderie. Once the habit is established, people continue to smoke in response to cues and in situations that become associated with smoking,” said lead author Reuven Dar, Ph.D., and colleagues of the TAU department of psychology. "These findings might not be popular with advocates of the nicotine addiction theory, because they undermine the physiological role of nicotine and emphasize mind over matter when it comes to smoking.”

In a previous study, published in 2005, Dr. Dar examined smokers who were religious Jews, forbidden by their religion to smoke on the Sabbath. He asked them about their smoking cravings on three separate days: the Sabbath, a regular weekday, and a weekday on which they had been asked to abstain. Participants were interviewed at the end of each day about their craving levels during that day. He found that cravings were very low on the morning of the Sabbath, when the smoker knew he would not be able to smoke for at least 10 hours. Craving levels gradually increased at the end of the Sabbath, when participants anticipated the first post-Sabbath cigarette. Craving levels on the weekday on which these people smoked as much as they wanted were just as high as on the day they abstained, showing that craving has little to do with nicotine deprivation.

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