What Kind of Smoking Identity Following Quitting Would Elevate Smokers Relapse Risk?
Thursday, October 22, 2020
Posted by: Natalia Gromov
Callaghan
L, Yong HH, Borland R, Cummings KM, Hitchman SC, Fong GT.
What Kind of Smoking
Identity Following Quitting Would Elevate Smokers Relapse Risk?
Addict Behav. 2020 Sep 12;112:106654. doi: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2020.106654. Epub
ahead of print. PMID: 32977267.
Background: Research
has suggested that smokers who quit smoking and continue to identify themselves
as a smoker versus a non-smoker are at greater risk of relapse. This study
examines the relationship between post-quit smoker identities and relapse risk
of former smokers in Australia and the UK comparing those who still identified
as a smoker with firm choice to no longer smoke versus those not expressing a
firm choice. Cross-country differences were examined. Methods: Data
analysed came from 544 former smokers (quit 1 month or more) who participated
in the Australian and UK Waves 9 (2013) and 10 (2014) of the International
Tobacco Control (ITC) surveys. Post-quit smoker identities were assessed at
baseline and smoking relapse at follow-up. Results: Baseline self-reported
smoker identity independently predicted smoking relapse at 12-month follow-up
(p < .01). Compared with the subgroup who identified themselves as smokers
trying to quit, those who identified themselves as smokers who had chosen to no
longer smoke (OR = 0.01, 95% CI = 0.01-0.25, p < .001), ex-smokers (OR =
0.05, CI = 0.01-0.25, p < .001) or non-smokers (OR = 0.07, CI = 0.02-0.37, p
< .001) were less likely to relapse at follow-up. No cross-country
differences were found. Conclusions: Following
quitting, smokers who maintained a smoker identity with a firm choice to no
longer smoke or adopted a non-smoker or ex-smoker identity were less likely to
relapse than those who failed to do so, suggesting that a clear rule/commitment
to not smoke and/or a shift to a non-smoking identity may be protective of
relapse.
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