Serious Psychological Distress, Health Risk Behaviors, and Diabetes Care Among Adults with Type 2 Diabetes: The California Health Interview Survey 2007 (Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice)
Published Date: June 01, 2011

Severe stress makes smokers more likely to light up and less likely to quit, according to the authors of a new journal article in Nicotine & Tobacco Research. The authors used 2007 California Health Interview Survey data to examine differences in smoking behaviors between adults with and without serious psychological distress (SPD). They found that adults with SPD were more than twice as likely to be current smokers and about 50 percent less likely to have quit smoking compared with those without SPD. Smokers with "acute" SPD were more likely to smoke 20 or more cigarettes daily. And quit rates were particularly low among smokers that had recently experienced severe or recent SPD. The authors note that a critical policy intervention to reduce smoking among persons with SPD or other serious mental disorders would be to broaden current restrictions on tobacco use in hospital settings to include psychiatric and addictive treatment settings. Incorporating tobacco treatment curriculm in psychiatry and psychology residency training programs, as well as and enhancing smoking cessation counseling protocols to best meet the needs of smokers with mental illness were also recommended.​



Publication Authors:
  • Hai-Yen Sung
  • et al
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