Evaluating the influences of social support and smoking cues on daily smoking abstinence among socioeconomically disadvantaged adults

Abstract

Introduction: Perceived social support and smoking cues, such as cigarette availability, are important factors that affect smoking cessation outcomes. However, very few studies examine the influences of social support and smoking cues on lapse during a quit attempt.

Methods: Socioeconomically disadvantaged smokers participating in a smoking cessation program at a safety net hospital completed smartphone-based ecological momentary assessments (EMAs) for two consecutive weeks (1-week pre-quit through 1-week post-quit). A mixed-effects logistic regression model was used to evaluate whether perceived support to quit smoking, perceived pressure to quit smoking, and situational cues (i.e., being offered a cigarette) were related to the likelihood of reporting smoking cigarettes on any EMA within a day.

Results: Perceived social pressure and support to quit were not related to daily smoking status. Participants were more likely to smoke on days when they were offered a cigarette compared to days when no such event occurred (OR = 3.31 [95% CI = 1.21, 9.06]). This effect was also significant after adjusting for perceived social pressure to quit and support to quit (OR = 3.38 [95% CI = 1.23, 9.31]).

Conclusion: The results suggest that being offered a cigarette negatively impacts smoking cessation. The results reinforce the need for including cigarette refusal skills in smoking cessation treatment to reduce the likelihood of smoking lapse among socioeconomically disadvantaged adults.

Keywords: Ecological momentary assessment; Smoking cessation; Smoking cues; Social support.