Gender differences in the association among nicotine dependence, body image, depression, and anxiety within a college population

Previous research has linked female weight concerns and smoking. This study examined whether poor body image and other eating disorder variables, after controlling for symptoms of anxiety and depression, were predictive of smoking severity in a sample of 478 college students (n = 215 males, n = 246 females). Contrary to our hypotheses and recent research, the predictors were not associated with nicotine dependence for females (R-2 = .00), and only dieting was negatively associated with nicotine dependence for males. These findings might be attributable to differences in how nicotine dependence is operationalized, the use of point prevalence symptom data versus lifetime prevalence of psychopathology, the severity of psychopathology in the present sample, or the use of a cross-sectional as opposed to a longitudinal design. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.