Cognitive Control Mechanisms in Male Smokers Mediate Difficulty in Disengaging Attention from Cigarette-Related Cues.
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| Title: | Cognitive Control Mechanisms in Male Smokers Mediate Difficulty in Disengaging Attention from Cigarette-Related Cues. |
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| Authors: | Zhang, Yang (AUTHOR), Qiao, Yaya (AUTHOR), Wang, Shan (AUTHOR) |
| Source: | Substance Use & Misuse. 2026, Vol. 61 Issue 6, p803-808. 6p. |
| Subjects: | Locus of control, Smoking cessation, Research funding, Data analysis, T-test (Statistics), Smoking, Statistical sampling, Psychology of men, Descriptive statistics, Attention, Experimental design, Analysis of variance, Statistics, College students, Data analysis software, Cognition |
| Abstract: | Background: Attentional control abilities can affect a substance user's attentional bias toward substance-related cues; however, research on this mechanism remains limited. Objectives: This study used a dot-probe task to investigate the attentional processing mechanisms of smokers with different attentional control abilities for cigarette-related cues. Methods: In total, 136 male smokers completed a flanker task to assess their attentional control ability. The attentional control scores of the participants were sorted from low to high, with the top 27% (36 participants) belonging to the high-attentional control group and the bottom 27% (36 participants) belonging to the low-attentional control group. Both groups then completed a dot-probe task to assess their attentional bias toward cigarette-related cues. Results: The low attentional control group exhibited a significantly longer reaction time to inconsistent than to consistent trials (p < 0.001); meanwhile, the attentional bias and disengaging indices of smokers with low attentional control abilities were significantly greater than 0. No significant differences were found in the high attentional control group. Conclusion: In smokers, attentional control abilities regulate attentional disengagement difficulties toward cigarette-related cues. Smokers with low attentional control ability may have an attentional bias toward cigarette-related cues due to difficulties in disengaging from cigarette-related cues, which may be an important factor in maintaining cigarette use. These results may guide approaches for the prevention of smoking and auxiliary treatment for smoking cessation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
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| Database: | Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection |
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| Abstract: | Background: Attentional control abilities can affect a substance user's attentional bias toward substance-related cues; however, research on this mechanism remains limited. Objectives: This study used a dot-probe task to investigate the attentional processing mechanisms of smokers with different attentional control abilities for cigarette-related cues. Methods: In total, 136 male smokers completed a flanker task to assess their attentional control ability. The attentional control scores of the participants were sorted from low to high, with the top 27% (36 participants) belonging to the high-attentional control group and the bottom 27% (36 participants) belonging to the low-attentional control group. Both groups then completed a dot-probe task to assess their attentional bias toward cigarette-related cues. Results: The low attentional control group exhibited a significantly longer reaction time to inconsistent than to consistent trials (p < 0.001); meanwhile, the attentional bias and disengaging indices of smokers with low attentional control abilities were significantly greater than 0. No significant differences were found in the high attentional control group. Conclusion: In smokers, attentional control abilities regulate attentional disengagement difficulties toward cigarette-related cues. Smokers with low attentional control ability may have an attentional bias toward cigarette-related cues due to difficulties in disengaging from cigarette-related cues, which may be an important factor in maintaining cigarette use. These results may guide approaches for the prevention of smoking and auxiliary treatment for smoking cessation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
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| ISSN: | 10826084 |
| DOI: | 10.1080/10826084.2025.2577278 |
