Anxiety sensitivity mediates the association between post-traumatic stress symptom severity and interoceptive threat-related smoking abstinence expectancies among World Trade Center disaster-exposed smokers

•PTSD symptom severity is related to difficulties with smoking cessation.•Anxiety sensitivity is a cognitive-affective risk variable that may link PTSD and smoking.•PTSD symptom severity was associated with threat-related smoking abstinence expectancies.•Anxiety sensitivity was indirectly associated with the PTSD-smoking abstinence expectancies link.