Age of onset of smoking among alcohol dependent men attending substance abuse treatment after a domestic violence arrest

This study examined differences between alcohol dependent offenders of intimate partner violence (IPV) with early initiation of cigarette smoking versus alcohol dependent offenders of IPV with later initiation of cigarette smoking. Seventy-eight alcohol dependent men who were arrested for domestic and referred to substance abuse treatment were randomly assigned to manual-guided behavioral therapies (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy or Twelve Step Facilitation). Sixty-two clients reported smoking cigarettes (85%) while 52 reported smoking cigarettes (71%) on a daily basis. Early initiation of smoking was defined as smoking cigarettes before the age of 16 years of age, while later initiation of smoking was defined as smoking cigarettes from 16.5 years and older. Regarding baseline characteristics, participants assigned to the early initiation of smoking condition had significantly more domestic violence arrests and significantly higher anger expression scores at baseline compared to the late smoking initiation group. Despite more severity of substance abuse, legal and violence characteristics at the baseline assessment in the early initiation group, both smoking initiation groups responded equally as well across 12 weeks of manualized behavioral treatments. The implications of these findings are discussed.