Depressive mood and tobacco use: Moderating effects of gender and emotional attention

IntroductionDepressive symptomatology is a predictive variable of tobacco use. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the influence that this symptomatology has on tobacco use when moderated by emotional attention.MethodsA total of 289 participants (127 males, 162 females) completed a survey to measure perceived emotional intelligence, depressive symptomatology, tobacco use and sociodemographic variables. Results were analyzed using a multiple regression model that included self-perceived emotional attention as a moderating variable.ResultsIn women, an interaction was found between depressive symptomatology and gender for predicting the number of cigarettes smoked (t = 2.45; p = .01), but not in men (t = −.74; p = .45). This interaction was moderated by emotional attention (t = 2.83; p = .005), such that women with medium and high levels of attention consumed a larger number of cigarettes.ConclusionsIn women, the effect of depressive symptomatology on tobacco use was moderated by the amount of attention that women paid to those symptoms. Such a moderating effect of attention was not observed in men. We recommend that smoking cessation programs incorporate interventions designed specifically for women, in particular to help them manage depressive symptomatology.