Adults with clinical depression are twice as likely to smoke and have severe symptoms than people who do not smoke.
These patterns begin early, as young people woth depression are more likely to take up cigarettes and e-cigarettes.
Surprisingly, despite these well documented connections between depression and tobacco use, little research has studied how depression affects smoking cessation treatments.
Sarah Tonkin, assistant professor of psychological sciences at the University of Arkansas, received a nearly $700,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health to determine how depression affects treatments designed to help people quit smoking.
“This research is critical, because most of the treatments we have are not developed with the people who need them most in mind,” Tonkin said.
