OBJECTIVES: To evaluate whether cue-evoked affective response would moderate the relationship between depression-proneness and smoking years. METHODS: Depression-proneness profiles were derived using clinician diagnosed personal and family histories of major depression, recurrent depression, trait-anhedonia, and ruminative coping styles (n=70). Affective distress was produced by idiographic, guided negative mood imageries in the presence of an in vivo cigarette exposure. RESULTS: Contrary to expectations, results showed that individuals less vulnerable to depression reported longer smoking histories. Stress-induced decreases in positive affect bolstered the association between depression vulnerability and smoking years. CONCLUSION: Depression-proneness assumptions are challenged and implications to affective influences on smoking behavior are discussed.