Depressive Symptoms, Depression Proneness, and Outcome Expectancies for Cigarette Smoking

The high rates of cigarette smoking among depressed persons may be partially explained by increased positive expectancies for cigarette smoking among this population. In view of theoretical and empirical work on depressed people’s negative views of the future, though, it would be expected that depressed smokers would hold particularly negative expectancies about the effects of cigarette smoking. The two current studies examined the relations between depression and smoking outcome expectancies in (a) a general population of adult regular smokers and (b) adult smokers seeking to quit smoking. Depressive symptoms and depression proneness both showed significant positive correlations with positive expectancies for cigarette smoking. Several positive correlations with negative expectancies also emerged. Thus, experiencing depressive symptoms may serve to amplify both favorable and unfavorable expectancies about the effects of smoking.