Smoking Abstinence Expectancies Among Latinx Smokers: An Initial Test and Evaluation of Individual Difference Factors

Background: Prior research has not examined the impact of smoking abstinence expectancies on smoking behavior in Latinx/Hispanic (hereafter Latinx) smokers. Therefore, the present investigation sought to explore the relevance of smoking abstinence expectancies in terms of smoking severity indicators (e.g., cigarette dependence) and to characterize individual difference factors related to such expectancies among Latinx smokers from the United States. Methods: Participants included 338 English-speaking Latinx adult daily cigarette smokers (M_age = 35.53 years; SD = 8.65; age range 18–61; 37.3% female). Results: Negative abstinence expectancies evidenced positive relations to cigarette dependence, number of prior quit attempts, and problems experienced when quitting; positive abstinence expectancies demonstrated negative associations with these same smoking variables. Results also supported statistically significant main effects for anxiety symptoms anxiety sensitivity in relation to increased negative mood abstinence expectancies. Moreover, anxiety sensitivity was significantly associated with greater abstinence expectancies for somatic symptoms and harmful symptoms and negatively related to positive consequence abstinence expectancies. Conclusions: Overall, the current investigation is the first to evaluate smoking abstinence expectancies among Latinx smokers in the US and empirically documents their relation to smoking severity indicators and characterizes individual difference factors that underlie their expression.