Can an index of smokers' emotional status predict the chances of success in attempts to quit smoking?

Smoking cessation still is a great challenge for smokers and health care professionals. Most subjects try cigarettes in adolescence under predominant environmental influences, and some psychological features are clearly associated with the establishment of continuous cigarette use. As a result, it is acceptable to assume that the risk of becoming regular smokers should be higher for subjects exhibiting imperfect psychological well-being. Since nicotine exhibits recognized psychopharmacological actions, an important reason for smoking would be the comfort of smokers' emotional afflictions. In this scenario, cigarettes might be seen as effective coping instruments for smokers. We hypothesize that a simple measure covering major emotional features of smokers might become a useful instrument for predicting the chances of success in attempts to quit smoking. The development of this new test aimed to measure the degree of smokers' emotional imbalance has the potential to predict the chances of success in response to standard therapy, as well as the need for introduction of intensive individualized psychological or psychiatric interventions. Preliminary analyses of a new test called Smokers' Emotional Index (SEI) support such a hypothesis. The SEI scores showed significant correlations with the values of the Fagerström test of nicotine dependence (FTND) for adult smokers. More numerous and better correlation coefficients were also observed between aspects of smoking history with SEI punctuations than with FTND scores. A clinical trial is proposed to test this hypothesis that could help to improve the results of current approaches to smoking cessation.