The relationship between smoking status and serious psychological distress: findings from the 2007 Behavioral Risk
Shanta R Dube1, Ralph S Caraballo, Satvinder S Dhingra
1National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 4770 Buford Highway N.E., Atlanta, GA 30341-3717, USA. skd7@cdc.gov.
Objectives:
To examine the associations between smoking and quit attempts with psychological distress and also by socioeconomic groups.
Methods:
Using data on 172,938 adult respondents from the 2007 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System we used the Kessler-6 scale to assess psychological distress among never, former, some-day, and everyday smokers and smokers attempting to quit.
Results:
Everyday smokers and attempting quitters had higher mean levels of 30-day psychological distress than never smokers. Compared with never smokers, the odds of having serious psychological distress (SPD) were: former smokers, 1.3 (95 % CI: 1.1-1.6); some-day smokers, 2.5 (95 % CI: 2.0-3.1); and everyday smokers, 3.3 (95 % CI: 2.8-3.8). As for unsuccessful quit attempts, the odds were highest for current smokers (3.3 [95 % CI: 2.8-3.8]) versus never smokers. Among current smokers, persons with less than high school education, income less than $ 50,000, or who were unemployed or unable to work had the highest odds of reporting SPD.
Conclusions:
Given the association between current smoking behaviors and psychological distress, future tobacco prevention and control efforts may benefit by including components of mental health, especially for low SES populations.
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