Daily support seeking as coping strategy in dual-smoker couples attempting to quit

Abstract

Objective: Smoking cessation is a stressful event and lapses are frequent. The dynamic model of relapse has been criticized for not integrating interpersonal factors as phasic influences. Seeking social support, as a coping strategy to deal with cravings, may help to refrain from smoking. Design: Overall, 83 heterosexual dual-smoker couples reported on their craving, the extent of seeking social support from one's partner regarding smoking cessation, and their number of cigarettes smoked in smartphone-based end-of-day diaries, from a joint self-set quit date on across 22 consecutive days. Main outcome measure: Number of cigarettes smoked. Results: Multilevel analyses indicated that on days with higher-than-average levels of craving, male and female smokers reported more cigarettes smoked. Higher-than-usual support seeking was related to fewer cigarettes smoked that same day. For women only, we found a within-person interaction between craving and support seeking on smoking. On days with higher-than-average support-seeking, the effect of craving on smoking was attenuated. Conclusion:Findings confirm the relevance of interpersonal processes in the relapse process, such as support seeking as coping behavior. Further, as a 'first act' in initiating supportive interactions, support seeking is an important piece in the social support process and a promising target for interventions.

Sex Differences in the Relationship Between Emotional Support and Self-rated Health among Chinese Elderly

“…Emotional support. We adapted five items from previous studies regarding emotional support, 29,38,39 and adjusted questions according to the local culture in rural China including: the frequency of children visit, the number of close relatives, the number of close friends, the frequency of seeking emotional support, and the number of emotional support providers. Participants were asked about the following questions over the past year: (i) How often does your child visit you (less than once a month, 1-3 times a month, 1-2 times a week, 3 or more times a week)?…”

Exploring the role of sex differences in the relationship between sex partner attitudes and current quit attempt among a sample of smokers

“…Some research has shown that partner support increases and wanes depending on whether or not the smoker makes small successes in their attempt to quit smoking 8 . Interventions that enhance partner support have potential to increase cessation efforts [10][11][12] . However, these interventions have mixed effects for men and women 13 .…”