ANXIETY AND SMOKING: IMPACTS ON SELF-PERCEPTION OF HEALTH AND ATTEMPTS TO QUIT SMOKING

Abstract

Smoking is a multifactorial phenomenon associated with significant individual and collective health impacts, maintained not only by nicotine dependence but also by interrelated behavioral and psychological processes. Although the association between smoking and anxiety is well-established in the literature, it is important to understand how anxiety symptoms manifest in smoker behavior. Therefore, this study aimed to analyze the role of anxiety in smoking behavior and the subjective experience of smokers undergoing cessation treatment. This study was conducted with 110 smokers who voluntarily participated in a smoking cessation group at the Amélio Marques Outpatient Clinic of the University Hospital of the Federal University of Uberlândia. The results demonstrated that the presence of anxiety symptoms was significantly associated with a greater number of previous cessation attempts, indicating a pattern of recurrent attempts to stop the habit. Furthermore, smokers with anxiety symptoms showed a more negative self-assessment of their health status, highlighting the direct impact of anxiety on the subjective experience of illness. The findings emphasize the importance of multidisciplinary therapeutic strategies that integrate the management of emotional and behavioral aspects into the treatment of nicotine dependence, increasing the effectiveness of smoking cessation interventions.