Stressor Diversity Increases Stress Reactivity in Smokers

Cigarette smokers who experience a greater variety of everyday stressors are more likely to struggle with stress and have trouble coping with the unpredictable nature of these stressors, according to a study published on the preprint platform osf.io. The research, which used data from 171 daily smokers, found that those with higher levels of stressor diversity reported greater stress reactivity and were more likely to experience negative affect, cravings, and smoking lapses. This suggests that individuals with higher stressor diversity may have difficulty proactively managing stress due to the uncertainty of which stressor will emerge next.

Key Takeaways:

• The study used ecological momentary assessment data from 171 daily smokers (mean age = 49.43, SD = 11.22; 59.6% women; 64.3% Black/African American).
• Stressor diversity quantifies between-person differences in how everyday stressors are dispersed across multiple domains (e.g., financial stressors, health stressors).
• There are two competing perspectives on the implications of stressor diversity for how affect and behavior respond to stressor exposure: the chronicity of stressor perspective and the uncertainty of stressor perspective.
• Results indicated that stress-reactivity was greater for those with higher levels of stressor diversity.
• These findings support the uncertainty of stressors perspective on stressor diversity, suggesting that individuals with higher stressor diversity will have greater stress-reactivity.
• The study suggests that individuals with higher stressor diversity may have difficulty proactively managing stress due to the uncertainty of which stressor will emerge next.

Statistics:

• 171 individuals participated in the study (mean age = 49.43, SD = 11.22).
• 59.6% of participants were women.
• 64.3% of participants were Black/African American.
• 49.43: the mean age of the participants.
• 11.22: the standard deviation of the participants' ages.
• 171: the number of participants in the study.
• 59.6%: the percentage of women in the study.
• 64.3%: the percentage of Black/African American individuals in the study.

Sources:

• osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/sjqd7_v1/ (preprint abstract).