Hostname: page-component-77f85d65b8-g4pgd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-03-29T16:02:38.952Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Exploring the interplay among smoking, stress, and negative affect in patients with psychosis: An experience sampling method study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 December 2025

Dunja van der Velde*
Affiliation:
Amsterdam UMC location AMC, Netherlands
Sanne van der Heijden
Affiliation:
Amsterdam UMC location AMC, Netherlands
Claudia Simons
Affiliation:
Maastricht University Medical Center, Netherlands
Therese van Amelsvoort
Affiliation:
Maastricht University Medical Center, Netherlands
Marieke van der Pluijm
Affiliation:
Amsterdam UMC location AMC, Netherlands
Behrooz Alizadeh
Affiliation:
University Medical Center Groningen, Netherlands
Wim Veling
Affiliation:
University Medical Center Groningen, Netherlands
Lieuwe de Haan
Affiliation:
Amsterdam UMC location AMC, Netherlands
Wiepke Cahn
Affiliation:
University Medical Center Utrecht, Netherlands
Frederike Schirmbeck
Affiliation:
University Hospital Mannheim of University of Heidelberg Faculty of Medicine, Germany
Jentien Vermeulen
Affiliation:
Amsterdam UMC location AMC, Netherlands
*
Corresponding author: Dunja van der Velde; Email: d.m.vandervelde@amsterdamumc.nl

Abstract

Background

Tobacco smoking is highly prevalent in patients with psychosis, who also often experience negative affect (NA) and stress. The relationship between these factors remains unclear in this population. We aimed to investigate everyday life associations in 158 patients with psychosis, 136 unaffected siblings, and 117 controls from the Genetic Risk and Outcome of Psychosis (GROUP) study with Experience Sampling Method measurements.

Methods

Generalized linear mixed models were used to evaluate across time and within-subject associations. Across time analyses investigated the relationship between smoking status and overall NA and stress. Within-subject analyses assessed whether smoking between two measurements (t−1 and t0) was associated with changes in NA and stress at the measurement after smoking a cigarette (t0) and at the subsequent measurement (t+1).

Results

Across assessments, smoking status was initially associated with NA in patients (B=0.26, p=0.036), but this association disappeared after controlling for psychotic symptoms and cannabis use. Within-subject analyses in smokers showed a decrease in NA in patients after smoking (t0: −0.23, p=0.016), which remained significant after correcting for confounders (t0: −0.20, p=0.015). Siblings showed a decrease in NA (t0: −0.22, p=0.009), also after controlling for confounders (t0: −0.14, p=0.018). No time-lagged effect was found at t+1 after correction for subsequent smoking.

Conclusions

Overall smoking behavior was not associated with NA in patients with psychosis. In the short term, smoking in the daily life context is associated with a reduction in NA in people vulnerable to psychosis, possibly due to alleviation of withdrawal symptoms, which may complicate smoking cessation.

Information

Type
Research Article
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution and reproduction, provided the original article is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of European Psychiatric Association
Figure 0

Table 1. Sample characteristics for across assessment analyses

Figure 1

Table 2. Sample characteristics for moment-to-moment within-subject analyses (smokers only)

Figure 2

Table 3. Results of generalized linear mixed model analyses in patients, examining the effect of smoking (t0) on NA and stress outcomes on t0 and t+1 compared with the previous non-smoking assessment (t−1)

Figure 3

Figure 1. Displays mean centered scores of NA and its 95% confidence interval at different times of assessment: prior to smoking (t−1), concurrent with smoking (t0), and the subsequent assessment after smoking (t+1). Estimates are adjusted for psychotic symptoms and cannabis use.

Figure 4

Table 4. Results of generalized linear mixed model analyses in siblings, examining the effect of smoking (t0) on NA and stress outcomes on t0 and t+1 compared with the previous non-smoking assessment (t−1)

Supplementary material: File

van der Velde et al. supplementary material

van der Velde et al. supplementary material
Download van der Velde et al. supplementary material(File)
File 32 KB
Submit a response

Comments

No Comments have been published for this article.