Do coping responses and dietary restraint predict self-efficacy following depressed or elated mood induction in female smokers?

Dietary restraint is positively associated with cigarette use in young women (Krahn, et al. 1992). Dieting smokers who rely on cigarettes for effect regulation and weight management may be especially prone to weight gain and smoking relapse following initial abstinence (Pinto, et al., 1999). Low mood has been shown to reduce self-efficacy, which may adversely affect goal directed efforts (Bandura, 1989) such as quitting smoking or losing weight. Using a cognitively based mood induction procedure (Velten, 1968), the present investigation was designed to assess the interactive effect of female smokers' coping style, dietary restraint, and mood state in predicting self-efficacy and temptation to smoke or eat. Additional analyses explored weight control smoking and current or past depressive symptoms in predicting smoking and eating efficacy and temptation. A total of 83 female smokers were recruited from a large private urban university and the local community. Mean age of participants was approximately 33, 66% identified themselves as white, and they reported smoking an average of 11 cigarettes per day. Results suggested that depressed mood was significantly correlated with efficacy to refrain from smoking but not with efficacy to refrain from eating. Also, positive mood was found to be significantly correlated with efficacy to refrain from smoking but not with efficacy to refrain from eating. Consistent with Ruderman (1985), positive and negative mood states appeared to have a different effect on women who were high or low on dietary restraint. Specifically, women who were high on dietary restraint had greater confidence in their ability to refrain from smoking or eating when in a positive mood and less confidence when in a low mood. Additional exploratory analyses regarding weight control smokers suggested that their self-efficacy decreased in response to the positive mood induction. This is contrasted with high dietary restrainers whose efficacy was enhanced by being in a positive mood state. Finally, more use of approach coping among dietary restrainers was not associated with better efficacy and less temptation to smoke or eat as the primary hypotheses predicted. Further, avoidance coping was not associated with increased temptation and reduced efficacy among dietary restrainers.