WOMEN AND GENDER DIFFERENCES

NRL Research on Women and Gender Differences

The Nicotine Research Laboratory has been actively involved in biobehavioral research on women smokers and gender differences starting in the late 1980's and continuing to the present. Areas of research include nicotine use across the menstrual cycle, weight concerns as a barrier to smoking cessation in women, and depression and smoking in women. We have also conducted pilot studies of smoking in pregnant women and race differences in women smokers. Past and current research initiatives include both laboratory studies and treatment trials. Our research has been extensively published in peer-reviewed journals. We were also asked to contribute sections on smoking and depression and smoking and the menstrual cycle to a forthcoming Surgeon General's Report on Women and Smoking. Among our important findings have been the following:

	Increases in smoking withdrawal symptomatology during the late luteal phase of the menstrual cycle may compound the difficulties of quitting, suggesting that if possible, the critical first few days of smoking cessation should occur during the follicular phase in regularly-menstruating women.
	Women with diagnosable or subclinical bulimia are over-represented among women smokers, who may use nicotine to manage a tendency towards binge eating or other disordered eating patterns; these patterns may re-emerge upon cessation, resulting in excessive and unhealthful weight gain.
	Weight concerns in women smokers tend to cluster with a variety of concerns relating to physical appearance and general attractiveness, suggesting that instead of trying to persuade such women that it is acceptable to gain weight, or divert their attention from body image issues, it may be more efficacious to focus on the favorable impact of quitting upon many aspects of body image.
	Women smokers with clinical or subclinical depression are more likely than nondepressed women smokers to experience symptoms of depression and difficulties in maintaining abstinence during the first few days after quitting, suggesting the need for extra support during this critical period .

NRL Publications on Women and Gender Differences

Pomerleau CS, Pomerleau OF, Garcia AW (1991). Biobehavioral research on nicotine use in women. Invited article, special issue on "New Directions in Tobacco Research," British Journal of Addiction 86:527-531.

Pomerleau CS, Garcia AW, Drewnowski A, Pomerleau OF (1991). Sweet taste preference in women smokers: Comparison with nonsmokers and effects of menstrual phase and nicotine abstinence. Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior 40:995-999.

Pomerleau CS, Garcia AW, Pomerleau,OF, Cameron OG (1992). The effects of menstrual phase and nicotine withdrawal on nicotine intake and on biochemical and subjective measures in women smokers: A preliminary report. Psychoneuroendocrinology 17:627-638.

Pomerleau CS, Pomerleau OF, Flessland KA, Basson SM (1992). Relationship of Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire scores and smoking variables in female and male smokers. Journal of Substance Abuse 4:143-154.

Pomerleau CS, Ehrlich E, Tate JC, Marks JL, Flessland KA, Pomerleau OF (1993). The female weight-control smoker: A profile. Journal of Substance Abuse 5:391-400.

Pomerleau CS, Cole PA, Lumley MA, Marks JL, Pomerleau OF (1994). Effects of menstrual phase on nicotine, alcohol, and caffeine intake in smokers. Journal of Substance Abuse 6:227-234.

Marks JL, Hair CS, Klock SC, Ginsburg BE, Pomerleau CS (1994). Effects of menstrual phase on intake of nicotine, caffeine, and alcohol and nonprescribed drugs in women with Late Luteal Phase Dysphoric Disorder. Journal of Substance Abuse 6:235-244.

Pomerleau CS, Teuscher F, Goeters S, Pomerleau OF (1994). Effects of nicotine abstinence and menstrual phase on task performance. Addictive Behaviors 19:357-362.

Pomerleau CS, Berman BA, Gritz ER, Marks JL, Goeters S (1994). Why women smoke. In: Watson RR (Ed), Drug and alcohol abuse reviews vol. 5, Addictive behaviors in women, pp. 39-70. Totowa, NJ: The Humana Press.

Pomerleau CS, Tate JC, Lumley MA, Pomerleau OF (1994). Gender differences in prospectively- vs. retrospectively assessed smoking withdrawal symptoms. Journal of Substance Abuse 6:433-440.

Pomerleau CS (1996). Smoking and nicotine replacement treatment issues specific to women (invited article). American Journal of Health Behavior 20:291-299.

Pomerleau CS, Kurth CL (1996). Willingness of female smokers to tolerate postcessation weight gain. Journal of Substance Abuse 8:371-378.

Pomerleau CS, Aubin H-J, Pomerleau OF (1997). Self-reported alcohol use patterns in a sample of male and female heavy smokers. Journal of Addictive Diseases 16:19-24.

Marks JL, Pomerleau CS, Pomerleau OF (1999). Effects of menstrual phase on reactivity to nicotine. Addictive Behaviors 24:127-134.

Pomerleau CS (1999). Issues for women who wish to stop smoking. In: Seidman D, Covey L (Eds), Helping the Hard-Core Smoker: A Clinician's Guide, pp. 73-91. New York: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Pomerleau CS, Mehringer AM, Marks JL, Downey KK, Pomerleau OF (2000). Effects of menstrual phase and smoking abstinence in smokers with and without a history of Major Depressive Disorder. Addictive Behaviors, 25:483-497.

Pomerleau CS, Pomerleau OF, Namenek RJ, Mehringer AM (2000). Short-term weight gain in abstaining women smokers. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment 18: 339-342.

Pomerleau CS, Namenek RJ, Jones LT (2000). Weight concerns in women smokers during pregnancy and postpartum. Addictive Behaviors 25:759-767

Pomerleau CS, Namenek RJ, Pomerleau OF (2000). Emergence of depression during early abstinence in depressed and non-depressed women smokers. Journal of Addictive Diseases 20:73-80.

Pomerleau CS, Zucker AN, Namenek RJ, Pomerleau OF, Stewart AJ (2001). Race differences in weight concerns among women smokers: Results from two independent samples. Addictive Behaviors 26:651-663.

Pomerleau CS (in 2001). Hormonal influences on nicotine addiction/withdrawal (including role of menstrual cycle and menopause). USDHHS: Surgeon General's Report on Women and Smoking.

Pomerleau CS (2001). Health consequences of tobacco use by women: Depression and other psychiatric disorders. USDHHS: Surgeon General's Report on Women and Smoking.

Namenek Brouwer RJ, Pomerleau CS (2000). "Pre-quit attrition" among weight-concerned women smokers. Eating Behaviors 1:145-151.

Pomerleau CS, Zucker AN, Stewart AJ (2001). Characterizing concerns about postcessation weight gain: Results from a national survey of women smokers. Nicotine anddTobacco Research 3:55-64.

Pomerleau CS, Zucker AN, Stewart AJ (under review). Patterns of depressive symptomatology in women current smokers, ex-smokers, and never-smokers.

Pomerleau CS, Namenek Brouwer RJ, Pomerleau OF (2001). Emergence of depression during early abstinence in depressed and non-depressed women smokers. Journal of Addictive Diseases 20:73-80.

Zucker AN, Harrell ZA, Miner-Rubino K, Stewart AJ, Pomerleau CS, Boyd CJ (2001). Smoking in college women: The role of thinness pressures, media exposure, and critical consciousness. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 25, 233-241.

Pomerleau CS, Zucker AN, Stewart AJ (2003). Patterns of depressive symptomatology in women current smokers, ex-smokers, and never-smokers. Addictive Behaviors 28:575-582.

Saules KK, Pomerleau CS, Snedecor SM, Mehringer AM, Shadle MB, Kurth CL, Krahn DD (2004). Relationship of onset of cigarette smoking during college to alcohol use, dieting concerns, and depressed mood: Results from the Young Women's Health Survey. Addictive Behaviors 29:893-899.

Pomerleau OF, Pomerleau CS, Snedecor SM, Gaulrapp S, Brouwer RN, Cameron OG (2004). Depression, smoking abstinence, and HPA function in women smokers. Human Psychopharmacology: Clinical and Experimental 19:467-476.

Saules, K.K., Pomerleau CS, Snedecor SM, Brouwer RN, Rosenberg EE (in press). Effects of disordered eating and obesity on weight, craving, and food intake during ad libitum smoking and abstinence. Eating Behaviors.

Pomerleau OF, Pomerleau CS, Mehringer AM, Snedecor SM, Ninowski R, Sen A (in press). Nicotine dependence, depression, and gender: Characterizing phenotypes based on withdrawal discomfort, response to smoking, and ability to abstain. Nicotine and Tobacco Research.

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