1. Withdrawal Symptoms and Nicotine Dependence Severity Predict Virtual Reality Craving in Cigarette-Deprived Smokers
- Author
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Patrick S. Bordnick, Ramiro Salas, Daisy G. Y. Thompson-Lake, James J. Mahoney, John A. Dani, Richard De La Garza, Kim N. Cooper, and Thomas R. Kosten
- Subjects
Adult ,Male ,Self-Assessment ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Craving ,Virtual reality ,Audiology ,Placebo ,Severity of Illness Index ,Developmental psychology ,Nicotine ,Predictive Value of Tests ,Surveys and Questionnaires ,mental disorders ,Severity of illness ,Heart rate ,medicine ,Humans ,Active smoking ,Nicotine dependence ,Original Investigation ,Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy ,Smoking ,Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health ,Tobacco Use Disorder ,Middle Aged ,medicine.disease ,Substance Withdrawal Syndrome ,behavior and behavior mechanisms ,Female ,Cues ,medicine.symptom ,Psychology ,Photic Stimulation ,medicine.drug - Abstract
Introduction: Virtual reality (VR) has been shown to be effective in eliciting responses to nicotine cues in cigarette smokers. The primary aim of this study was to investigate whether cigarette-deprived smokers would exhibit increased craving and changes in heart rate when viewing cigarette related cues as compared to non-smoking cues in a VR environment, and the secondary aim was to assess the extent to which self-assessed measures of withdrawal and dependence correlated with VR craving. Methods: Nicotine-dependent cigarette smokers were recruited for a 2 day study. On Day 1, participants smoked as usual and on Day 2 were deprived from smoking overnight. On both days, participants completed self-assessment questionnaires on withdrawal, craving, and nicotine-dependence. Participants completed a VR session during the cigarette deprivation condition only (Day 2). During this session, they were exposed to active smoking and placebo (non-smoking) cues. Results: The data show that self-reported levels of “craving” (p < .01) and “thinking about cigarettes” (p < .0001) were significantly greater after exposure to the active cues versus non-smoking cues. Significant increases in heart rate were found for 3 of 4 active cues when compared to non-smoking cues (p < .05). Finally, significant positive correlations were found between self-reported craving prior to the VR session and craving induced by active VR cues (p < .01). Conclusions: In this report, active VR cues elicited craving during cigarette deprivation. This is the first study to demonstrate that self-reported craving, withdrawal symptoms, and nicotine dependence severity predict cue-induced craving in the VR setting.
- Published
- 2014