Breath holding and success in stopping smoking: what does breath holding measure?

Breath-holding endurance has recently been shown to predict the outcome of an attempt at stopping smoking. This could reflect a relationship between breath-holding endurance and the endurance of discomfort associated with cigarette withdrawal. However, it is not clear whether breath holding measures any such general trait. To see if it is related to another test of endurance, its correlation with maintained grip was examined. The two variables were closely related and remained so after differences in strength were partialled out. Breath holding appears to be a valid measure of endurance of physical discomfort.