Clinical correlates of cigarette smoking and nicotine dependence in alcohol-dependent men and women

This paper examines the clinical characteristics associated with tobacco use and nicotine dependence in a large sample of alcohol-dependent subjects. The goal was to determine if the characteristics of the alcohol use history were associated with the smoking status, even after controlling for additional characteristics, such as the antisocial personality disorder, other drug dependence and gender. As part of the Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism, a semi-structured interview, including a detailed history of alcohol and tobacco use, was administered to 1005 alcohol-dependent men and women, made up of 658 (65.5%) current smokers, 167 (16.6%) former smokers, and 180 (17.9%) non-smokers. Among former smokers, 50.3%, and among current smokers, 72.8% had ever been nicotine-dependent (DSM-III-R). Current smokers and nicotine-dependent subjects had a greater severity of alcohol dependence, even as evaluated through logistic regression analyses in which gender and associated diagnoses were considered. The data also enabled us to study the relationships among depression, nicotine dependence, and alcohol dependence, with most of the correlation occurring for substance-induced, not independent, mood disorders.