Why is lone‐motherhood so strongly associated with smoking?

Abstract

Objective: Lone mothers are among the most disadvantaged groups in many countries. Smoking prevalence among this demographic group is considerably higher than the general population. Previous work has shown that only part of this difference can be explained by age, not having a partner, living alone, and socio‐economic factors. This study examined the contribution of mental health, the social environment, and the lifecourse in explaining the effect of lone motherhood on smoking status. Methods: Cross‐sectional data from the 1995 National Health Survey and 2001 National Drug Strategy Survey were used. Smoking was defined as daily smoking. Mental health was assessed using a 14‐item scale from the SF‐36. Proportion of friends who smoke was used as an indicator of the social environment. Age started smoking daily ( 18 and >18) was used as a lifecourse factor. Results: Mental health, proportion of friends who smoke and age of smoking initiation had strong associations with smoking status. However, they accounted for a small part of the association of being a lone mother and a smoker. After controlling for these factors, the odds of being a smoker among lone mothers w ere still twice those of mothers with partners (OR 2.1, 95% CI 1.7–2.7). Conclusions and Implications: Improving the socio‐economic status (SES), mental health and the social environment of lone mothers could help reduce their high smoking prevalence. However, much of the effect of being a lone mother remains even after controlling for these factors. More research is needed to discover why prevalence is so high among this demographic group.

Risk Factors for Smoking in Rural Women

“…The circumstance of early parenthood (i.e., first pregnancy before age 20) was also related to whether a woman currently smoked. This finding is consistent with studies of English 10 and Australian 14 women, where mothers, often living as the lone adult in the home, are The CHAID, or decision tree analysis, identified subsets (or nodes) that were categorized by different risk factors. The final subsets significantly associated with current smoking included low adult SEP and depressive symptoms.…”

“…[4][5][6]10,14,52 This perspective deserves equal consideration in explaining the persistence of smoking in disadvantaged groups. Understanding the combination of social and material factors and life course circumstances associated with smoking helps to determine the mechanisms responsible for the behavior and can guide tobacco control efforts.…”

“…These authors 12 and other investigators 13 have also suggested that risk profiles should be constructed to better understand how clusters of specific factors influence certain individuals. For example, it has been separately reported that the odds of smoking are high among women who became mothers at an early age 10,14 and that persistent smoking is linked with depression, 15 which also correlates with economic disadvantage. [16][17][18] Thus, social and maternal factors, as well as psychologic characteristics, together as a cluster of factors, may partially explain the maintenance of a smoking behavior.…”

Warum rauchen Mütter?

“…Zahlreiche Studien zeigen, dass sich bei alleinerziehenden Müttern eine deutlich höhere Rauchprävalenz findet und sie im Vergleich zu verheirateten Müttern auch häufiger zu den Starkraucherinnen zählen [11,12,13]. Bei den familiären Einflussfak toren konnten zudem eine frühe Mutter schaft [14], die Versorgung von chronisch kranken Kindern [15] sowie mangelnde soziale Unterstützung [16] als Risikofak toren für den mütterlichen Tabakkonsum identifiziert werden.…”

Smoking and social inequality

“…Their smoking prevalence of 37% is more than twice that of mothers with partners. 6,7 Financial stress and smoking…”