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A Cross-Sectional Study of Happiness and Smoking Cessation Among Parents

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 March 2015

Jeremy E. Drehmer ,
Bethany Hipple ,
Deborah J. Ossip ,
Emara Nabi-Burza  and
Jonathan P. Winickoff
Jeremy E. Drehmer*
Affiliation:
Center for Child and Adolescent Health Research and Policy, Division of General Academic Pediatrics, Massachusetts General Hospital for Children, Boston, MA Tobacco Research and Treatment Center, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA
Bethany Hipple
Affiliation:
Center for Child and Adolescent Health Research and Policy, Division of General Academic Pediatrics, Massachusetts General Hospital for Children, Boston, MA Tobacco Research and Treatment Center, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA
Deborah J. Ossip
Affiliation:
Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY
Emara Nabi-Burza
Affiliation:
Center for Child and Adolescent Health Research and Policy, Division of General Academic Pediatrics, Massachusetts General Hospital for Children, Boston, MA Tobacco Research and Treatment Center, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA
Jonathan P. Winickoff
Affiliation:
Center for Child and Adolescent Health Research and Policy, Division of General Academic Pediatrics, Massachusetts General Hospital for Children, Boston, MA Tobacco Research and Treatment Center, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA AAP Richmond Center of Excellence, American Academy of Pediatrics, Elk Grove Village, IL
*
Address for correspondence: Jeremy E. Drehmer, MPH, Center for Child and Adolescent Health Research and Policy, Division of General Academic Pediatrics, Massachusetts General Hospital for Children, 100 Cambridge Street, 15th floor, Suite 1542-C5, Boston, MA 02114. Email: JDREHMER@mgh.harvard.edu
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Abstract

Introduction: Smoking cessation among adults is associated with increased happiness. This association has not been measured in parents, a subset of adults who face uniquely stressful and challenging circumstances that can affect happiness.

Aims: The aim of this study was to determine if parental smoking cessation is associated with increased happiness and to identify characteristics of parental quitters who experience increased happiness.

Methods: A total of 1,355 parents completed a 12-month follow-up interview from a U.S. national trial, Clinical Effort Against Secondhand Smoke Exposure (CEASE). Multivariable logistic regression examined if level of happiness was independently associated with quitting smoking and identified characteristics associated with feeling happier after quitting smoking.

Results/Findings: Parents’ level of happiness was independently associated with quitting smoking (aOR = 1.60, 95% CI = 1.42–1.79). Factors associated with increased happiness among quitters include engaging in evidence-based cessation assistance (aOR = 2.69, 95% CI = 1.16–6.26), and adopting strictly enforced smoke-free home (aOR = 2.55, 95% CI = 1.19–5.48) and car (aOR = 3.85, 95% CI = 1.94–7.63) policies. Additionally, parents who believed that being a smoker got in the way of being a parent (aOR = 5.37, 95% CI = 2.61–11.07) and who believed that thirdhand smoke is harmful to children (aOR = 3.28, 95% CI = 1.16–9.28) were more likely to report feeling happier after quitting.

Conclusions: Parents who quit smoking reported being happier than parents who did not quit. Though prospective studies can clarify what factors cause an increase in happiness, letting paediatricians know that most parents who smoke report being happier when quitting may facilitate communication with parents around cessation.

Keywords

ClinicalTrials.govIdentifier: NCT00664261

Information

Type
Original Articles
Information
Journal of Smoking Cessation , Volume 12 , Issue 1 , March 2017 , pp. 6 - 14
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2015 

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