Abstract
Objective: Low self-control has been linked with smoking, yet it remains unclear whether childhood self-control underlies the emergence of lifetime smoking patterns. We examined the contribution of childhood self-control to early smoking initiation and smoking across adulthood. Methods: 21,132 participants were drawn from 2 nationally representative cohort studies; the 1970 British Cohort Study (BCS) and the 1958 National Child Development Study (NCDS). Child self-control was teacher-rated at age 10 in the BCS and at ages 7 and 11 in the NCDS. Participants reported their smoking status and number of cigarettes smoked per day at 5 time-points in the BCS (ages 26–42) and 6 time-points in the NCDS (ages 23–55). Both studies controlled for socioeconomic background, cognitive ability, psychological distress, gender, and parental smoking; the NCDS also controlled for an extended set of background characteristics. Results: Early self-control made a substantial graded contribution to (not) smoking throughout life. In adjusted regression models, a 1-SD increase in self-control predicted a 6.9 percentage point lower probability of smoking in the BCS, and this was replicated in the NCDS (5.2 point reduced risk). Adolescent smoking explained over half of the association between self-control and adult smoking. Childhood self-control was positively related to smoking cessation and negatively related to smoking initiation, relapse to smoking, and the number of cigarettes smoked in adulthood. Conclusions: This study provides strong evidence that low childhood self-control predicts an increased risk of smoking throughout adulthood and points to adolescent smoking as a key pathway through which this may occur.
Highlights
In order to test whether adolescent smoking mediated the relationship between childhood self-control and adult smoking behavior, we examined the number of cigarettes smoked per week at age 16 in both cohorts
Self-control correlated negatively with smoking (BCS: r ϭ Ϫ.19; National Child Development Study (NCDS): r ϭ Ϫ.20) and with the number of cigarettes consumed by smokers per day (r ϭ Ϫ.13 in both studies)
Children who lack self-control in the classroom tend to take up smoking in adolescence at higher rates than other children and continue to have an elevated risk of smoking for many decades
Summary
Model 1 : Smoking status (smoker ⁄ ex-smoker ⁄ never smoker)it ϭ 0i ϩ 1 self-controli ϩ 2 sexi ϩ 3 cognitive abilityi ϩ 4 psychological distressi ϩ 5 parental smokingi ϩ 6 social classi ϩ 7 aget ϩ 8 extended controlsi (NCDS only) ϩ εit. Model 2 : Cigarettes smoked per dayit ϭ 0i ϩ 1 self-controli ϩ 2 sexi ϩ 3 cognitive abilityi ϩ 4 psychological distressi ϩ 5 parental smokingi ϩ 6 social classi ϩ 7 aget ϩ 8 extended controlsi (NCDS only) ϩ εit. In the current study khb performs the necessary decomposition to allow the indirect pathway from self-control through an ordinal mediator (adolescent smoking) to a categorical outcome (smoker/ex-/never adult smoker) to be estimated
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
