Somatic, psychological and social judgments related to smoking among pregnant and non-pregnant women

Abstract

Purpose: To examine the association between pregnancy and judgments about a range of somatic, psychological and social events and conditions related to smoking.

Basic procedures: Pregnant and non-pregnant women smokers, intending and not intending to quit, were contacted in family practices in Bulgaria where they were under ordinary medical observation. All 80 women in the study were asked to rate consequences related to smoking in terms of how good or bad they were.

Results: Being pregnant or not pregnant had the main effect on rated values of smoking-related consequences, with non-pregnant women giving the least positive ratings across the time-span of the study and whether or not they intended to quit. No statistically significant difference was obtained between the quitting and non-quitting women, and there was only one statistically significant difference for different days.

Conclusions: The physical variable of pregnancy has a larger impact on judgments about smoking compared to the motivational aspect of intending to quit.