Gastrointestinal-specific anxiety as a transdiagnostic mechanism involved in persons with irritable bowel syndrome who smoke

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a chronic gastrointestinal disorder that imposes significant life impairment. Smoking is an addictive and potentially exacerbating behavior that may be important to IBS, but the psychological factors linking IBS and smoking remain underexplored. This study aims to investigate gastrointestinal-specific anxiety (GI-specific anxiety) in relation to smoking processes among adults with IBS who smoke. The sample consisted of 263 adults who met the criteria for IBS and reported smoking at least 5 cigarettes per day for the past year (Mean age = 44.1 years, SD = 12.71, 52.1% female). Hierarchical regression results indicated that higher GI-specific anxiety was statistically significantly associated with greater perceived barriers for smoking cessation, increased negative affect reduction smoking expectancies, and stronger urges to smoke for relief of negative affect. The present investigation found that GI-specific anxiety is an important construct informing smoking among individuals with IBS. Future research considerations are explored.