consequence of smoking. These findings stand in contrast to Conklin and Perkins’ (2005) laboratory study, which did not find a reduction in negative mood after smoking. However, their study induced high levels of negative mood, which one would not expect to be sustained in our smokers’ multiple assessments over multiple days. It should be noted, in the present study, the effects found were statistically significant, yet a very small effect. This brings into question whether the negative mood effect found here is clinically or theoretically relevant. This finding bears replication with closer scrutiny, using other negative mood assessments that might be more sensitive to changes in mood. Given these results, and their need for further study, it is too early to posit broad theoretical implications from this data.
