of “nervousness” may simply be different. While the prevalence rates of other DSM-IV nicotine withdrawal items closely approximated previous reports of nicotine withdrawal symptoms in U.S. samples of adult (Breslau et al., 1992) and adult male veteran (Xian et al., 2003) smokers, the rate of nervousness reported in our adult Australian sample of smokers, appeared strikingly lower than these previous reports. For instance, Breslau et al. (1992) reported a rate of nervousness of 50%, and Xian et al. (2003), 53%, closer to the 31% reported in our adolescent samples and much higher than the 17% reported by our adult Australian smokers. In subsidiary analyses examining the prevalence of nicotine withdrawal symptoms in the mothers of our U.S. adolescent boy sample (“BOYNIC”) who reported smoking 100 or more cigarettes lifetime (N=809), we found a rate of nervousness of 47%. This rate was within the range of nervousness reported by Breslau et al. (1992) and Xian et al. (2003). Future studies will explore the cross-cultural difference in reports of nicotine withdrawal symptoms, including data obtained from U.S. and Australian smokers. Modification of the assessment of nicotine withdrawal-related nervousness to include both “nervous” and “anxious” may lead to higher endorsement rates, as our
