Reported Stress and Its Relationship to Tobacco Use among U.S. Military Personnel

Abstract

In addition to common stressors, members of the U.S. Armed Forces experience a high level of stress unique to their status as service members. In an effort to combat stress, many military personnel report high levels of nicotine use. This study investigated the relationship between tobacco use and perceived stress among military members in all four armed services. Results indicate that those who use tobacco products specifically to reduce stress report significantly higher stress levels than those who do not use tobacco. Moreover, current users and those who both smoked and used smokeless tobacco were far more likely to report experiencing "a lot" of stress from a variety of sources than former or never users. Tobacco users also engaged more frequently in negative coping behaviors and relied less on the positive coping strategies used more often by former or never smokers. These findings are consistent with the larger body of literature suggesting that tobacco is not only an ineffective stress-reducing strategy, it also likely perpetuates a stress response in users. It is, therefore, critical that the military improve effective means of coping among nicotine-using troops.

Psychosocial Stressors and Cigarette Smoking Among African American Adults in Midlife

“…Our findings also complement previous research documenting specific stressor domains as risk factors for smoking, including relationship stress ( Stein et al, 2008 ), work stress ( Ayyagari & Sindelar, 2010 ;Stein et al, 2008 ), and fi nancial stress ( Siahpush, Yong, Borland, Reid, & Hammond, 2009 ). We extend the existing work by considering these domains together.…”

“…A substantial amount of research has documented that psychosocial stress is a signifi cant risk factor for smoking ( Webb & Carey, 2008 ) and predicts diffi culty with smoking cessation ( Berg et al, 2010 ). Smoking is more common among individuals who report higher levels of work strain ( Ayyagari & Sindelar, 2010 ), fi nancial strain ( Siahpush, Spittal, & Singh, 2007 ), relationship stress ( Stein et al, 2008 ), discrimination ( Williams & Mohammed, 2009 ), and stressful life events ( McKee, Maciejewski, Falba, & Mazure, 2003 ). However, to date, many studies linking psychosocial stress to smoking have used generalized measures of perceived stress or counts of stressful life events ( Berg et al, 2010 ;Webb & Carey, 2008 ), as opposed to information about specific domains of acute and chronic stress.…”

A Longitudinal Analysis of Cigarette Prices in Military Retail Outlets

“…3,9---11 Smokers in the military report experiencing significantly greater work and life stress than their nonsmoking peers, likely because of chronic nicotine withdrawal. 12 Tobacco use is associated with increased prevalence and severity of psychosocial problems that result from exposure to combat. For instance, nicotine dependence doubles the risk of posttraumatic stress disorder in deployed troops, 13 and a strong dose---response relationship (P < .001) has been demonstrated between the number of cigarettes smoked and suicide among active-duty army soldiers.…”

Perspectives of US military commanders on tobacco use and tobacco control policy

“…7 For example, military smokers report experiencing greater work and life stress than their non-smoking peers, likely due to chronic nicotine withdrawal. 6 In the general public, smokers exhibit greater risk for suicide compared with non-smokers in longitudinal cohort studies, 8 and a dose-response relationship has been demonstrated between the number of cigarettes smoked and suicide among active duty US Army soldiers, and in adult cohorts in a number of countries. 8 9 In order to address the negative impact of tobacco use, senior leadership has approved a number of policies which discourage use and require the provision of treatment services.…”