The ruminative cycle in smokers: on the relationship between cigarette smoking behaviour, rumination, difficulties in thought suppression, and emotion regulation

To date, no study has investigated the relationship between smoking behavior, rumination, difficulties in emotion regulation and thought suppression. We aimed to investigate the relationship between cigarette consumption and regulatory strategies (e.g. rumination, thought suppression). Seventy-nine participants (39 females) ranging in age from 18 to 45 years (Mage = 24.05, SDage = 4.57), of whom 39 were non-smokers and 40 were regular smokers, were administered a multi-method psychological assessment, including questionnaires, behavioral tasks, and a modified version of the White Bear Paradigm. The results showed that smokers tended to spend more time than non-smokers thinking about certain mental contents, especially after a stressful situation (the latter triggered by laboratory-induced stress). We conclude that a multimethod assessment targeting smokers’ self-regulation attempts at both cognitive (i.e., thought suppression) and emotional levels could be useful to inform well-rounded interventions to break the “ruminative cycle”.