Introduction The risk of smoking increases with specific psychiatric diagnoses (e.g. posttraumatic stress disorder [PTSD]); but the risk has also been shown to increase as a function of the number of psychiatric illnesses with which a person is diagnosed. The current study examined this association and other correlates of smoking-psychiatric comorbidity in a sample of U.S. Iraq/Afghanistan era Veterans who have served since September 11, 2001. Methods The sample consisted of 1691 Veterans (mean age = 37.5 years, 20.2% women, 53.2% minority). Veterans completed measures of smoking history, nicotine dependence and smoking expectancies; they also underwent a structured diagnostic interview to establish any current and/or lifetime psychiatric diagnoses. Results Consistent with previous studies, the number of comorbid diagnoses was significantly associated with both heavy (>20 cigarettes/day) and light/moderate (≤ 20 cigarette/day) smoking. Moreover, among current smokers, significant correlations between self-reported dependence and number of diagnoses were observed. Examination of self-reported smoking expectancies revealed that a greater number of diagnoses was associated with greater expectancies of negative affect reduction, stimulation/state enhancement, taste/sensorimotor manipulation, social facilitation, craving/addiction, and boredom reduction. Conclusions The present findings confirm the association between the number of comorbid diagnoses reported in previous studies, and extends those findings by identifying smoking expectancies differences among smokers with comorbid diagnoses.
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