Nicotine effects on affective response in depression-prone smokers

Rationale Comorbidity between cigarette smoking and depression is thought to arise because depression-prone smokers self-administer nicotine to improve mood. Yet little evidence supports this view, and nicotine’s effect on positive affect deficiency in depression remains largely unstudied. Objectives We hypothesized that (1) nicotine would dispel negative affect and enhance positive affect and (2) effects would be stronger for smokers vulnerable to depression, particularly during a depressed state. Materials and methods Regular smokers (N = 165) were recruited from the community: 63 with no history of major depressive disorder (MDD), 61 with recurrent past but no current MDD, and 41 with both current and past MDD. During four sessions, participants smoked either a nicotinized (NIC+) or denicotinized (NIC−) cigarette double blind after experiencing a negative mood induction or while undergoing a positive mood induction. Positive and negative affects were measured at baseline and at two time points after smoking. Results Previously depressed smokers showed a heightened positive mood response to positive mood induction when smoking a nicotinized cigarette. Nicotine also increased the degree to which positive mood induction dispelled negative mood in depression-vulnerable smokers. Finally, nicotine worsened the negative affect response to negative mood induction for all groups. Conclusion Self-administering nicotine appears to improve depression-prone smokers’ emotional response to a pleasant stimulus.