The importance of resilience and stress to maintaining smoking abstinence and cessation: a qualitative study in Australia with people diagnosed with depression

Abstract

This study explored stress in relation to smoking and how non-smokers (never-smoked and ex-smokers) are 'resilient' to smoking in a population where there is a high prevalence of smoking (people diagnosed with depression). In-depth oral history interviews were conducted with 34 adult participants from metropolitan Adelaide, and who were medically diagnosed with depression. Participants were recruited according to their smoking status (currently smoking, ex-smoker, and never-smoked). Smoking was taken-up and maintained for a number of reasons that included perceived high levels of stress. Resilience to stress in relation to smoking was also a major theme. Non-smoking participants tended to be more resilient to stress. Ex-smokers were able to quit for a number of varied reasons during critical transition points in their lives. The never-smoked participants reported successful strategies to cope with stress but not all of them were necessarily healthy. There was often interplay between external factors and the individual's internal properties that led to a building or an erosion of resilience. Smokers and ex-smokers have indicated a strong relationship between stress and tobacco use. Ex-smokers and the never-smoked participants have demonstrated how being 'resilient' to stress can be important to smoking abstinence. The finding that external factors can interact with internal properties to build resilience in relation to stress and smoking is important for policy and practice.

Tobacco Smoking, Quitting, and Relapsing Among Adult Males in Mainland China: The China Seven Cities Study

“…These strategies have been shown to increase the likelihood that smokers will quit and remain abstinent once they do ( al ' Absi, Carr, & Bongard, 2007 ;Tsourtos et al, 2011 ) and may be applicable to Chinese adult male smokers. Despite extensive studies in western countries, we still lack evidence for any specifi c behavioral intervention to prevent relapse among smokers who have quit ( Hajek, Stead, West, Jarvis, & Lancaster, 2009 ).…”

Additive and subtractive resilience strategies as enablers of biographical reinvention: A qualitative study of ex-smokers and never-smokers

“…There has been growing interest in resilience from a range of disciplines including psychology (Harvey & Delfabbro, 2004), social policy (Ungar, 2004), and public health (M. Bartley, 2006;M Bartley, Schoon, Mitchell, & Blane, 2006;Canvin, Marttila, Burstrom, & Whitehead, 2009;Lawn, Hersh, Ward, Tsourtos, Muller, Winefield et al, 2011;Mitchell & Backett-Milburn, 2006;Muller, Ward, Winefield, Tsourtos, & Lawn, 2009;Tsourtos, Ward, Muller, Lawn, Winefield, Hersh et al, 4 2011). Most research on resilience has focused on particular groups who have experienced particular trauma, for example during childhood (Castro, Garfinkle, Naranjo, Rollins, Brook, & Brook, 2007;Ireland, Weisbart, Dubowitz, Rowe, & Stein, 2010;Tercyak, Donze, Prahlad, Mosher, & Shad, 2006) and adolescence (Ali, Dwyer, Vanner, & Lopez, 2010;Brown, 2001;Velleman, Templeton, & Copello, 2005).…”

Disadvantaged youth and smoking in mature tobacco control contexts: a systematic review and synthesis of qualitative research

“…Factors associated with increased risk of smoking include childhood and adult disadvantage,12 early and lone motherhood,6 13 14 living in a low-income neighbourhood,15–17 belonging to some ethnic groups,18–20 low occupational class and income inequality,16 17 21 mental illness,22 homelessness23 and incarceration 8. This disparity in prevalence is an opportunity for the tobacco industry to sustain itself in declining markets; its efforts to target disadvantaged groups have been documented 23 24.…”