Anhedonia in Tobacco Withdrawal Among African-American Smokers

Anhedonia—diminished interest and pleasure in response to rewards—may be a symptom of tobacco withdrawal that is understudied in priority populations. This experiment investigated the magnitude and correlates of various dimensions of anhedonia during tobacco withdrawal among African–American (AA) smokers—a population subject to health disparities. AA smokers (N = 607; ≥10 cigarettes/day, 37.8% female, M[SD] age = 50.0[10.6] years) completed self-report measures assessing expected pleasure from (i.e., consummatory anhedonia) and desire to engage in (i.e., anticipatory anhedonia) various types of hypothetically experienced rewards at counterbalanced 16-hr tobacco deprived and nondeprived lab visits. Other tobacco withdrawal symptom measures (e.g., craving, negative affect, hunger) were also assessed. Tobacco deprivation most robustly increased scores on a composite measure of consummatory anhedonia directed toward various reward domains (i.e., hobbies, sensory experiences, social activities; d =.32, p <.001). Deprivation modestly increased consummatory and anticipatory anhedonia directed toward sexual rewards (ds =.09–.12, ps <.02), did not significantly change anhedonia toward food rewards, and decreased anhedonia directed toward psychoactive drug rewards (i.e., increased desire for and pleasure from drugs; ds = −.21 to −.19, ps <.001). Deprivation-induced changes in anhedonia were modestly correlated with other withdrawal symptoms (average |r|s =.04–.23) and were amplified among participants with higher nicotine dependence and lower positive affect-related traits (|β|s =.10–.12, ps <.01). Some dimensions of anhedonia may be genuine expressions of acute tobacco withdrawal in AA smokers. Applying multi-dimensional anhedonia conceptualizations might advance basic knowledge and treatment of tobacco use disorder, improve smoking cessation outcomes, and address tobacco-related health disparities facing AA smokers.