Does successful smoking cessation reduce anxious arousal among treatment-seeking smokers?

Introduction There is limited work that has examined the effect of quitting smoking on anxious arousal, an underlying dimension of anxiety symptoms and psychopathology. Method Smokers ( n = 185, 54.1% female) enrolled in a smoking cessation treatment trial were monitored post-cessation in terms of abstinence status (biochemically verified; at Weeks 1, 2, and Month 1 post-quit) and severity of panic-relevant symptoms (self-reported; at Month 1 and 3 post-quit). Structural equation models were conducted, adjusting for participant sex, age, treatment condition, and pre-cessation nicotine dependence, presence of depressive/anxiety disorders, anxious arousal, and anxiety sensitivity. Results After adjusting for covariates, participants who remained abstinent for one month ( n = 80; 43.2%) relative to those who did not ( n = 105; 56.8%) demonstrated significant reductions in anxious arousal at Month 1 ( β = −.26, p = .04) and Month 3 post-quit ( β = −.36, p = .006); abstinence status had a non-significant effect on anxious arousal severity at Month 3 after controlling for Month 1 anxious arousal ( β = −.18, p = .09). Discussion Findings align with theoretical models of smoking-anxiety interplay and suggest that smoking cessation can result in reductions in anxious arousal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]