Social Support, Network Heterogeneity, and Smoking Behavior in Women: The 10-Town Study

Abstract

Examine the associations among social support, network heterogeneity, and smoking behavior in a large sample of Finnish female municipal employees. Cross-sectional observational study. Workplaces in 10 towns in Finland. Smoking behavior and social support from one's partner, relatives, friends, supervisor, and coworkers was assessed by a questionnaire survey in 2000 to 2001. Logistic regression analysis. Total of 23,069 female employees (mean age = 45 years). Separate models for heavy smoking (> or = 20 cigarettes per day) were calculated for 4119 current smokers. The association between social support and ex-smoking was examined in 7352 ever-smokers. After adjustment for various confounders, women who reported low heterogeneity of their support network or no support from their partners or relatives were approximately 1.2 times more likely to be smokers compared with their counterparts with high heterogeneity or high support. Low network heterogeneity was also significantly associated with an elevated prevalence of heavy smoking in current smokers (odds ratio [OR] = 1.52; 95% confidence intervals [CI] = 1.06, 2.19) and a lower likelihood of ex-smoking in ever-smokers (OR = 0.74; 95% CI = 0.63, 0.87). The associations were more pronounced among nonmanual vs. manual employees. Our findings suggest an association among network heterogeneity, sources of social support, and smoking in female employees. The preventive impact of these social resources on smoking behavior is stronger among nonmanual female employees.