DOI: 10.57127/kpd.26024438.1945185 ISSN: 2602-4438

The mediating role of emotion regulation skills in the relationship between childhood maltreatment and nicotine dependence

Esra Kısacık, Büşra Altınışık
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Nicotine dependence is one of the most common forms of addiction worldwide. Understanding the factors contributing to the initiation and maintenance of smoking behavior is crucial for prevention and intervention strategies. Based on models suggesting that early adverse experiences may impair emotion regulation and increase vulnerability to addictive behaviors, this study examined the mediating role of emotion regulation skills in the relationship between childhood maltreatment and nicotine dependence. The sample consisted of 132 university students aged 18–25 years. Participants completed the Demographic Information Form, the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, the Fagerström Test for Nicotine Dependence, and the Emotion Regulation Skills Questionnaire, and their carbon monoxide (CO) levels were measured using the Pico+ Model Smokerlyzer device. Statistical analyses were conducted using SPSS, including Pearson correlation analyses and mediation analysis via the PROCESS Macro (Model 4). Correlation analyses revealed a negative association between childhood maltreatment and emotion regulation skills; however, no significant relationship was found between childhood maltreatment and nicotine dependence, nor between emotion regulation skills and nicotine dependence. Moreover, emotion regulation skills did not mediate the relationship between childhood maltreatment and nicotine dependence. The lack of support for the proposed mediation model suggests that emotion regulation may not be a central explanatory mechanism in this relationship within a relatively small and homogeneous sample of young adults aged 18–25, thereby highlighting the need to identify alternative pathways underlying nicotine dependence.

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