Introduction: In recent years the prevalence of tobacco consumption in women has increased significantly, which results in high costs at economic, family and health. Particularly, university women is a sector of the population in which is essential to carry out research on the factors associated with tobacco consumption, in order to develop prevention and intervention strategies to stop smoking. Objective: determine the association between tobacco consumption and nicotine dependence with anxiety, depression and negative and positive affect in female university students. Method: 72 female university smokers who voluntarily attended to a smoking cessation treatment in the Center of Attention and Orientation for Students (CAOPE) of the Iztacala School of Higher Studies, UNAM. Different instruments were applied to assess the pattern of consumption, the levels of dependence, depressive and anxiety symptoms, and positive and negative affect levels. Results: all emotional factors (anxiety, depression, positive and negative affect) incorporated in a model, adequately predicted both the consumption pattern and the level of dependence. In female university smokers, anxiety increased the risk of tobacco consumption and nicotine dependence. Discussion and conclusions: these results should be considered when designing prevention and treatment strategies to stop smoking in female university students, including cognitive-behavioral strategies. It is recommended to consider strategies for emotional self-control, problem solution and anxiety coping when working with smoking prevention.