Understanding Fatigue Severity and Smoking Deprivation in Smoking Behavior and Urges: A Pilot Test

Smoking prevalence in the United States has stabilized as the remaining population becomes increasingly representative of “at-risk smokers” who are unable to quit. The experience of severe fatigue may be one underrecognized but highly common problem that may help in understanding smoking maintenance and relapse. Yet, there has been no research on fatigue severity in relation to smoking behavior measured in “real time.” The purpose of the present study was to provide a pilot test of fatigue severity in the context of smoking deprivation in predicting number of puffs, puff velocity, interpuff interval, and smoking urges during an experimental relapse analogue task. Participants in the present study included 36 (M_age = 49.25 years, SD = 8.83; 54.1% male) daily cigarette smokers who reported prolonged fatigue. Results indicated that there was a statistically significant interactive effect between smoking deprivation and fatigue severity in the prediction of interpuff interval, such that those with greater fatigue severity, when smoking deprived, evinced greater time between puffs. Other analyses documented meaningful effect sizes for fatigue severity, but due to the sample size, results were generally not statistically significant. This pilot test found some empirical evidence for the continued study of fatigue severity as an individual difference factor relevant to smoking maintenance and relapse in an experimental context.