Social roles as predictors of cessation in a cohort of women smokers.

There is evidence to suggest that women's smoking and maintenance of smoking is related to the stress associated with women's roles. The purpose of this longitudinal study is to assess social role factors predictive of cessation among a cohort of women smokers over a 15-year period. The cohort of women examined in this study were interviewed as part of a household interview survey conducted in 1970-71 by the Center for Health Research, of the Northwest Region of Kaiser Permanente, and resurveyed via a mail-out questionnaire in 1985-86. This study focuses on the 168 women smokers in the cohort. Of these 168 smokers, 55 (or 33%) had quit smoking by the follow-up 15 years later. The outcome variable is smoking status at follow-up. Predictor variables include both role occupancy and characteristics of social roles. The findings show that role occupancy is unrelated to smoking cessation. Selected characteristics of the work role, however, were found to predict smoking cessation; occupational status and control over work. Public health and research implications are discussed.