Financial strain and cognitive-based smoking processes: The explanatory role of depressive symptoms among adult daily smokers

•It is posited that financial strain will exert an indirect effect on cognitive-based smoking processes via depressive signs•Depressive symptoms explained link between financial strain and negative affect reduction smoking motives•Depressive symptoms explained link between financial strain and negative mood abstinence expectancies•Depressive symptoms explained link between financial strain and perceived barriers for quitting•Results have implications for improving intervention programs for smoking cessation involving financial strain

Little work has focused on the underlying mechanisms that may link financial strain and smoking processes. The current study tested the hypothesis that financial strain would exert an indirect effect on cognitive-based smoking processes via depressive symptoms. Three clinically significant dependent variables linked to the maintenance of smoking were evaluated: negative affect reduction motives, negative mood abstinence expectancies, and perceived barriers for quitting. Participants included 102 adult daily smokers (Mage = 33.0 years, SD = 13.60; 35.3% female) recruited from the community to participate in a self-guided (unaided; no psychological or pharmacological intervention) smoking cessation study. Results indicated that depressive symptoms explain, in part, the relation between financial strain and smoking motives for negative affect reduction, negative mood abstinence expectancies, and perceived barriers for quitting. Results indicate that smoking interventions for individuals with high levels of financial strain may potentially benefit from the addition of therapeutic tactics aimed at reducing depression.