Biomedical subjects

S T Tiffany

Publications and source records attributed to S T Tiffany.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

PubMed1997

The effect of alcohol consumption on craving to smoke.

This research investigated the effect of alcohol consumption on smokers' general levels of craving for cigarettes and their reactivity to smoking-related cues. Cue reactivity was evaluated across multiple trials of exposure to both imaginal and in vivo presentations of smoking and non-smoking stimuli. On imagery trials, subjects imagined either smoking and non-smoking scenarios; during in vivo trials subjects watched an experimenter either smoke a cigarette or drink water. Measures included self-reported craving to smoke and selected somatovisceral responses. Subjects (n = 60) completed two sessions, the first examined cue reactivity in the absence of alcohol. In Session 2 subjects were told they were consuming alcohol; half received placebo and the other half were given ethanol (0.75 ml/kg). Following beverage consumption, subjects were exposed to the cue manipulation. In both sessions, exposure to smoking stimuli enhanced craving in each presentation mode and increased skin conductance levels in the in vivo mode. Alcohol intoxication produced a generalized increase in craving but did not selectively enhance craving or physiological reactivity to smoking stimuli. The results are discussed in terms of models of craving and processes through which alcohol may influence craving to smoke.

Adult↗

PubMed1996

Cross-tolerance of associative and nonassociative morphine tolerance in the rat with mu- and kappa-specific opioids.

The present study examined the cross-tolerance profiles of associatively and nonassociatively morphine-tolerant rats with analgesia produced by morphine and fentanyl (mu-receptor agonists) and U50,488H (a kappa-receptor agonist). Subjects were given a series of eight morphine injections either paired or unpaired with a distinctive environment and then tested for tolerance using the tail-flick method. Evidence was found that nonassociative morphine tolerance, which was produced using a 6-h interdose interval (IDI), was receptor-specific, i.e. cross-tolerant with analgesia produced by mu-specific, but not kappa-specific drugs. Nonassociative tolerance was characterized by a shift to the right in dose response curves of 0.32 log units in morphine-tested animals and 0.28 log units in fentanyl-tested animals. Conversely, associative morphine tolerance, which was produced using a 96-h IDI, evidenced a lack of receptor specificity by showing cross-tolerance to the analgesic effects of U50,488H. Associative tolerance was characterized by shifts of 0.42 log units in morphine-tested animals, 0.34 log units in fentanyl-tested animals, and 0.39 log units in U50,488H-tested animals. These results were interpreted as suggesting the mechanisms responsible for associative tolerance differ from those producing nonassociative tolerance. This conclusion is problematic for theories of learned tolerance that assume a unitary set of mechanisms subserving associative and nonassociative tolerance.

Animals↗

PubMed1996

The use of a dual-task procedure for the assessment of cognitive effort associated with cigarette craving.

Two experiments used a dual-task procedure to investigate Tiffany's (1990) proposal that drug craving should disrupt activities that demand nonautomatic cognitive processing. The primary task required smokers to imagine sentences that incorporated urge or no-urge descriptors. During imagery, the subjects also responded to a secondary reaction time (RT) task. Additional dependent variables collected during the imagery manipulation included craving report, mood report, heart rate (HR), and skin conductance levels (SCL). In study 1, imagery of urge sentences produced slower probe RTs and increases in HR and SCL, greater urge and negative mood reports, and lower positive mood ratings. This same pattern of results was replicated in the second study, which utilized sentence types more closely matched on no-urge content. These results support Tiffany's (1990) cognitive processing theory and suggest an innovative approach to the investigation of drug craving.

Adult↗

PubMed1996

Unsignaled morphine delivery does not disrupt the development of associative morphine tolerance in the rat.

When morphine administration is paired with a distinctive context, tolerance to morphine's analgesic effects comes readily under the associative control of the drug-paired context. These associative tolerance effects are eliminated when a relatively short (i.e., 6 h) interdose interval (IDI) is used for conditioning. Contemporary models of learned tolerance explain the absence of learning at short IDIs by positing that residual morphine effects from a recent drug exposure disrupt the formation of drug-context associations. The present studies examined the impact of unsignaled morphine injections given 6 h prior to drug-context pairings on the development of associative tolerance. Analgesia was measured by the tail-flick method, and tolerance levels were assessed by dose-response curve methodology. Morphine preexposure had no detectable influence on the acquisition of associative tolerance when rats were tested immediately after conditioning, after a 30-day rest interval, or after a 30-day period of daily saline injections in their home-cage environment. These data suggest disruption of associative tolerance effects at short IDIs is not attributable to residual effects of morphine from the immediately preceding trial.

Animals↗

PubMed1995

Role of drug-administration cues in the associative control of morphine tolerance in the rat.

This research investigated the role of injection procedures as a potential confound in the study of associative and nonassociative morphine tolerance development. Rats administered a series of morphine injections paired with a distinctive context environment can develop tolerance controlled associatively by the context. However, rats given morphine unpaired with the context may also develop some degree of tolerance. This study examined whether this tolerance represents an associative effect with animals using the injection ritual as a cue predictive of morphine delivery. Following 14 days of habituation to handling and injection stimuli, rats were given eight morphine injections (20 mg/kg, IP) explicitly paired or unpaired with a distinctive context. Animals were then tested for morphine analgesia in the context after either a 30-day rest condition or a 30-day period of daily saline injections. Analgesia was assessed by the tail-flick method, and tolerance was defined as the shift to the right of the dose-response curve of morphine-experienced relative to saline control animals. Paired animals across both retention conditions displayed tolerance, whereas tolerance retention in unpaired animals was observed only in those animals not given saline injections over the 30-day interval. Results support an associative interpretation of tolerance observed in unpaired conditions and suggest that the injection ritual may provide highly salient cues for the support of associative tolerance effects.

Analgesia↗

PubMed1994

Assessment of the effects of urges and negative affect on smokers' coping skills.

A taped-situation test designed to elicit descriptions of how subjects would cope with circumstances that placed them at high risk for relapse to smoking was administered to 60 cigarette smokers following their participation in one of three treatment groups. Two of these groups had coping-response training incorporated into the treatment format. The negative affect and urge contents of eight scenarios were manipulated to examine the effect of these variables on coping responses. The predictive validity of this assessment was evaluated by conducting follow-up interviews for up to 1 yr following the assessment. The manipulation of negative affect and urges had an impact on cognitive and behavioral coping. The type of treatment the subjects received had no effect on any of the coping-response measures. Among the 49 subjects abstinent at the time of the coping assessment, measures of coping (especially those obtained when urges and negative affect were increased) and self-efficacy ratings were predictive of days to first relapse. The implications of the results for the assessment of coping-responses and conceptualizations of the role of coping in the relapse process are discussed.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed1993

Morphine as a cue in associative tolerance to morphine's analgesic effects.

This study examined the extent to which low doses of morphine paired explicitly with high doses would gain associative control over tolerance development in rats. Tolerance development was assessed by evaluating dose-response curves to the analgesic effects of morphine on the tail-flick test. The results indicated that tolerance development was not influenced by the pairing of low doses with high doses.

Analgesics↗

PubMed1993

The development of a cocaine craving questionnaire.

Two versions of a 45-item questionnaire on cocaine craving were administered to 225 cocaine users. The Now version asked about current craving for cocaine, and the General version asked about average craving over the preceding week. Factor analyses showed that a four-factor solution best described the item structure for both versions of the questionnaire. Higher-order analyses indicated that each version was permeated by a single second-order factor. Factor scales derived for each primary and second-order factor had moderate to high reliabilities. Examination of item content, correlations of factors across versions, and external correlates of the factors suggested that both versions were represented by the same hierarchical factor structure. The theoretical and clinical implications of the results from these craving instruments are discussed.

Adult↗

PubMed1992

Effect of number of conditioning trials on the development of associative tolerance to morphine.

The acquisition of associative tolerance to the analgesic effects of morphine was investigated by giving independent groups of rats 1, 3, 5, 8, 14, 20, or 30 administrations of drug either explicitly paired or unpaired with a distinctive context. Tolerance, assessed on a tail-flick device using dose-response curve (DRC) methodology, developed more rapidly and reached greater magnitude when morphine and the distinctive context were explicitly paired rather than explicitly unpaired. Tolerance magnitude in both conditions reached a maximum at eight conditioning sessions. It is argued that the tolerance found in both treatment groups was associatively controlled. The function of handling and injection cues as conditioned stimuli, and the deleterious effects of latent inhibition and partial reinforcement on conditioned excitation and conditioned inhibition are discussed.

Analgesics↗

PubMed1992

Contribution of associative and nonassociative processes to the development of morphine tolerance.

The contribution of associative and nonassociative processes to the development of tolerance to the analgesic effects of morphine in rats was investigated in two experiments. Associative contingencies were manipulated by administering a series of moderately high morphine doses (20 mg/kg) either explicitly paired or explicitly unpaired with a distinctive context. During distinctive context exposures, animals were placed for 60 min in plastic boxes located in a room adjacent to the colony room. The distinctiveness of this environment was enhanced by the presence of white noise and a pine scent. Nonassociative processes were manipulated by administering the morphine at either a very short (6 h) or relatively long (96 h) interdose-interval (IDI). Analgesia was measured on a tail-flick test. At the 96 h IDI, tolerance, as indexed by shifts in dose-response curves, was controlled primarily by associative processes. Associative control over tolerance at the long IDI was evident at an immediate test (experiment 1) and was retained for a 30 day interval (experiment 2). In contrast, tolerance that developed at the 6 h IDI was not influenced by associative contingencies at the immediate test (experiment 1) and showed no retention over a 30 day interval (experiment 2). These data suggest that tolerance that developed at the short IDI was nonassociative. Overall, the results indicate that conditions conductive to the development of non-associative tolerance disrupt the acquisition of associative tolerance. Hypotheses regarding the absence of associative effects at the short IDI are reviewed. Methodological implications of these results for evaluations of associative and nonassociative morphine tolerance are also discussed.

Animals↗

PubMed1991

The production of smoking urges through an imagery manipulation: psychophysiological and verbal manifestations.

This study examined physiological (heart rate, skin conductance, and finger temperature) responses and self-reported urges elicited by an imagery procedure designed to produce smoking urges. Sixty-six cigarette smokers were instructed to imagine vividly four audiotaped imagery scripts; two of the scripts contained explicit descriptions of smoking urge situations (urge scripts) while the other two were devoid of explicit urge content (neutral scripts). Physiological responses were monitored throughout each imagery trial and subjects rated the vividness of their image and intensity of their urge to smoke at the termination of each trial. Subjects reported significantly stronger urges to urge scripts than to neutral scripts. Urge scripts also produced increases in heart rate and higher tonic skin conductance levels than neutral scripts. These results suggest that the imagery procedure may have considerable potential in the study of the structure and function of drug urges. The theoretical implications of the data are discussed.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1991

Effect of interdose interval on the development of associative tolerance to morphine in the rat: a dose-response analysis.

Three experiments examined the effect of interdose interval (IDI) on the development and retention of associative tolerance to the analgesic effects of morphine. Tolerance was indexed as the magnitude of the shift to the right of the dose-response curve (DRC). Experiment 1 showed that associative tolerance was characterized by a parallel shift in the DRC to the right in rats that had received morphine explicitly paired with the distinctive test context at 12-, 24-, and 96-hr IDIs. Associative tolerance was attenuated at the shortest IDI. Experiment 2 revealed that associative tolerance that developed in the 12- and 96-hr IDI conditions showed comparable levels of retention at 30 days. Experiment 3 showed that associative tolerance was not disrupted by the administration of unsignaled doses of morphine 12 hr before each drug-context pairing. Theoretical and methodological implications of the data are discussed.

Animals↗

PubMed1991

The development and initial validation of a questionnaire on smoking urges.

A 32-item questionnaire on smoking urges was administered to 230 daily cigarette smokers assigned to one of three levels of cigarette deprivation (0, 1 or 6 hours). Factor analyses showed that a two-factor solution best described the item structure for each of the three deprivation levels and for the entire sample. Factor scales of 15 and 11 items derived from rotation to simple structure were highly reliable, 0.95 and 0.93, respectively, and moderately correlated (r = 0.71). Average scores on both scales increased significantly with level of deprivation, and the Factor 1 scale was significantly higher than the Factor 2 scale at all levels. Factor 1 scale items reflected primarily intention and desire to smoke, and anticipation of pleasure from smoking. Factor 2 scale items were comprised primarily of anticipation of relief from negative affect and nicotine withdrawal, and urgent and overwhelming desire to smoke.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1991

The application of 1980s psychology to 1990s smoking research.

The 1988 Surgeon General's report (US DHHS, 1988) argued that smoking should be considered an addiction because it displays the features common to all addictive disorders, which were, most importantly, highly controlled or compulsive use of a psychoactive substance. Furthermore, urges to smoke were identified as directly responsible for this pattern of drug use. Although it is commonly asserted that urges are central to the addictive process, relatively little research has been devoted to this issue and the evidence that is available provides little support for the assumption. This paper argues that the role of urges in addictive smoking should receive greater attention from smoking researchers and offers several suggestions for overcoming the methodological and theoretical limitations of previous research on smoking urges.

Forecasting↗

PubMed1990

Postcessation cigarette use: the process of relapse.

One hundred twenty-nine chronic smokers successfully completed a smoking cessation program composed of behavioral counseling and aversive smoking. During the two-year follow-up period, 92 of these subjects reported smoking. The progression from subjects' first cigarette to full relapse was examined via standardized telephone interviews. The latency between subjects' initial postcessation smoking episode and subsequent return to daily smoking was related to pretreatment confidence level, affective state at the time of the first cigarette, and origin of the first cigarette. Neither affective reaction nor coping response execution after the initial cigarette was related to the rate of relapse. Results are discussed in terms of current theory and treatment implications.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed1990

Imagery and smoking urges: the manipulation of affective content.

This study investigated the impact of the affective content of imagery scripts used in an imagery paradigm designed to elicit smoking urges in a laboratory setting. Sixty cigarette smokers were instructed to vividly imagine 10 imagery scripts that described negative affect and explicit smoking urges, positive affect and explicit smoking urges, negative affect alone, positive affect alone, and neutral affect alone. Subjects' ratings of the vividness of their images across the five script types did not differ but ratings of urges and cravings indicated that scripts containing descriptions of smoking urges elicited strong reports of smoking urges/cravings comparable in magnitude across positive and negative affective content. Among scripts that did not explicitly describe smoking urges, negative affect scripts were more effective in generating smoking urges/craving than positive affect scripts, although positive affect scripts did produce significantly stronger urges/cravings than neutral affect scripts. An analysis of subjects' reports of the distribution of their strongest urges over imagery trials and regression analyses of the variables predictive of urge/craving report provided converging evidence that the content of the imagery scripts exerted considerable control over the generation of smoking urges in the imagery paradigm. The results indicated that the magnitude of urges and cravings produced by the imagery manipulation were clearly influenced by urge and affective content of the imagery scripts.

Adult↗

PubMed1990

A cognitive model of drug urges and drug-use behavior: role of automatic and nonautomatic processes.

Contemporary urge models assume that urges are necessary but not sufficient for the production of drug use in ongoing addicts, are responsible for the initiation of relapse in abstinent addicts, and can be indexed across 3 classes of behavior: verbal report, overt behavior, and somatovisceral response. A review of available data does not provide strong support for these assumptions. An alternative cognitive model of drug use and drug urges is proposed that hypothesizes that drug use in the addict is controlled by automatized action schemata. Urges are conceptualized as responses supported by nonautomatic cognitive processes activated in parallel with drug-use action schemata either in support of the schema or in support of attempts to block the execution of the schema. The implications of this model for the assessment of urge responding and drug-use behavior are presented.

Alcohol Drinking↗

PubMed1989

Associative morphine tolerance in the rat: examinations of compensatory responding and cross-tolerance with stress-induced analgesia.

The results of three experiments designed to examine the processes subserving associative tolerance to morphine's analgesic effects, as assessed by the tail-flick test, are reported. The experiments indicated that associative tolerance in male Holtzman rats was not subserved by conditioned compensatory responses but was cross-tolerant with an apparently nonopioid form of stress-induced analgesia (SIA). Experiment 1 showed that rats tested for morphine analgesia in a distinctive context that had been paired previously with morphine injections (5 mg/kg) were more tolerant than animals that had had this context explicitly unpaired with a series of morphine injections or animals that were drug-naive. There was no evidence of a conditioned compensatory response of hyperalgesia in animals given a saline injection in the presence of environmental stimuli that had been previously paired with morphine, even under test conditions designed to minimize the possibility of floor effects that might have obscured the detection of drug-compensatory hyperalgesia. Experiment 2 demonstrated that the footshock procedures used for stress induction produced an SIA that was not attenuated by naloxone (10 mg/kg). Experiment 3 replicated the associative tolerance phenomenon of Experiment 1 and again failed to find evidence of conditioned compensatory responses. It was found that animals exposed to footshock in the context that had been associated with morphine administration developed significantly less SIA than control animals. The relevance of these findings for associative models of drug tolerance is discussed.

Animals↗