Assessing craving in young adult smokers using virtual reality.

M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, PO Box 301439, Houston, TX 77230-1439, USA. atraylor@mdanderson.org

Cigarette smokers, when confronted with cues associated with smoking, evidence strong reactions, including increased craving. These reactions have not been extensively studied in young adult smokers, a group that research suggests may respond differently than adults or adolescent smokers. We used virtual reality, which presents a complex array of smoking cues that may be particularly salient to young adult smokers, and measured self-report of craving. Young adult smokers responded strongly to these cues and, unlike adults, did not return to a baseline of craving following cue exposure, suggesting young adult smokers differ from other smokers in terms of cue responses.

PMID: 18770087 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]