The effect of collective trauma on craving for cannabis and tobacco

Vera Skvirsky; Uri Lifshin; Maayan Yacubovitz; Hila Avnit; Tslil Dvir; Maayan Marcus; Maya Regev; Rotem Flor; Mario Mikulincer

doi:10.1177/13591053261450563

The effect of collective trauma on craving for cannabis and tobacco

Vera Skvirsky^*
, Uri Lifshin^*
, Maayan Yacubovitz
, Hila Avnit
, Tslil Dvir
, Maayan Marcus
, Maya Regev
, Rotem Flor
, Mario Mikulincer

^*Corresponding author for this work

Department of Psychology

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

Exposure to collective traumatic events is associated with increased substance use. We tested if experimentally priming thoughts of collective trauma increases substance craving, while examining the potential anxiety-buffering roles of self-affirmation, connection to a national/cultural group, and attachment security (mainly attachment anxiety). In two pre-registered experiments, priming collective traumatic events (the October-7th terror attack in Israel) increased cannabis craving for moderate-high risk problematic cannabis users (Study 1), and tobacco craving among daily smokers (Study 2). Attachment anxiety predicted heightened craving in both studies but did not moderate the priming effects. Self-affirmation and group identification had no impact. October-7 prime increased death thought accessibility in Study 1 but did not mediate the prime effect on craving. Findings highlight the causal effects of reminders of collective trauma on craving for cannabis and tobacco. We discuss the studies’ limitations and possible implications for understanding substance use as a defense against existential threats.

Original language	English
Journal	Journal of Health Psychology
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1177/13591053261450563
State	Accepted/In press - 2026

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2026. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).

Keywords

addiction
attachment
cannabis
craving
tobacco

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10.1177/13591053261450563

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AU - Regev, Maya

AU - Flor, Rotem

AU - Mikulincer, Mario

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2026. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).

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AB - Exposure to collective traumatic events is associated with increased substance use. We tested if experimentally priming thoughts of collective trauma increases substance craving, while examining the potential anxiety-buffering roles of self-affirmation, connection to a national/cultural group, and attachment security (mainly attachment anxiety). In two pre-registered experiments, priming collective traumatic events (the October-7th terror attack in Israel) increased cannabis craving for moderate-high risk problematic cannabis users (Study 1), and tobacco craving among daily smokers (Study 2). Attachment anxiety predicted heightened craving in both studies but did not moderate the priming effects. Self-affirmation and group identification had no impact. October-7 prime increased death thought accessibility in Study 1 but did not mediate the prime effect on craving. Findings highlight the causal effects of reminders of collective trauma on craving for cannabis and tobacco. We discuss the studies’ limitations and possible implications for understanding substance use as a defense against existential threats.

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The effect of collective trauma on craving for cannabis and tobacco

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