Do predictors of smoking relapse change as a function of duration of abstinence? Findings from the United States, Canada, United Kingdom and Australia

Abstract

Among adult smokers in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom and Australia, factors associated with smoking relapse differ between the early and later stages of a quit attempt, suggesting that the determinants of relapse change as a function of abstinence duration.

Social networks and quitting in a national cohort of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander smokers

“…The present paper extends those analyses by testing whether: (i) smoking in participants’ social network was associated with smoking status at baseline; (ii) social disadvantage was associated with smoking in participants’ social network and perceived social support for quitting at baseline; (iii) baseline (and changes in) smoking in participants’ social network and perceived social support for quitting were associated with making a quit attempt and sustaining abstinence (for ≥1 month if made an attempt) between baseline and follow‐up; and (iv) baseline smoking in participants’ social network was associated with baseline and follow‐up social norms about smoking (which has been suggested as a mechanism for social networks to reduce smoking) and smoking quit self‐efficacy (which has been shown to be associated with sustaining abstinence in this and other populations) .…”

“…Even though it cannot describe entire social networks, longitudinal survey research has been able to show that having fewer close friends who smoke at baseline predicts successful cessation at follow‐up . The baseline number of smoking friends has a longer impact on preventing relapse than other factors (dependence, quitting history, motivational attitudes, quit self‐efficacy and medication use), but no impact very early in a quit attempt . A reduction between baseline and follow‐up in the number of smoking friends is also associated with quit attempts and success .…”

Predictors and reasons for starting and sustaining quit attempts in a national cohort of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander smokers

“…Our baseline surveys identified that fewer Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander smokers had used these pharmacotherapies, especially among more socio-economically disadvantaged Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people [35]. ITC Four Country studies found use of nicotine replacement therapy only predicted abstinence early in quit attempts, in spite of evidence of longer effectiveness from meta-analyses of RCTs [27,36]. In contrast, even after controlling for other variables, we found a strong association between encouragement from a health professional and making a quit attempt between surveys.…”

“…These results are necessarily based on a smaller sample with less statistical power. Our sample was too small to explore abstinence beyond 1 month, even though longer abstinence is necessary for health gains and predictors of relapse change over time quit [27]. Different predictors may influence long-term success.…”

Do stress, life satisfaction, depression and alcohol use predict quitting among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander smokers?

“…However, as many quit attempts are very short and so may not be remembered at follow‐up, 46 there may be some misclassification bias to the null of our analyses of starting quit attempts but much less of the analyses of sustained attempts (although the latter analyses have less power due to their smaller sample size). Our study was too small to use a cutpoint later than one month to assess longer abstinence, even though longer abstinence is necessary for health gains and predictors of relapse change over time 47 …”