Interacting effects of receiving social control and social support during smoking cessation.

Abstract

Social control and support have effects on smoking cessation, but are mostly examined separately. Interacting effects of social control and support are investigated, hypothesizing synergistic effects. In 99 smokers, received social control and emotional support (both smoking specific) were assessed 2 weeks before a quit date (T1); objectively verified abstinence and self-reported numbers of cigarettes smoked daily were assessed 6 weeks after baseline (T2). For both outcomes, associations with control (T1) were moderated by support (T1), but beneficial synergistic effects (high control/high support) emerged for few participants only. Effects were mainly driven by constellations of low control/high support associated with more cigarettes smoked daily (T2) and low control/low support linked to higher likelihood of abstinence (T2). Different constellations of levels of control and support may be beneficial for quitting smoking. Whereas synergies of high domain-specific control and support may be beneficial, they only rarely occur.