Depression and Smoking among College Students
Smoking is a habit that is often begun in the teen years by caving to peer pressure or because it is the accepted protocol in a social network. Often, however, as smoking becomes an established addiction and the individual moves into adulthood, the reasons for smoking can be rooted in factors that affect mental health.
Previous research has shown that many college students smoke in order to relieve symptoms of depression (Morrell, Cohen & McChargue, 2010). More research was needed to understand all of the factors involved, and whether there was any gender difference in the way that smoking and depression were connected in smokers.
A recent study examined the role in affect in the connection between vulnerability to depression and smoking behavior. The research seeks to uncover the moderating and mediating influences that exist between depression and smoking behavior. It looks at the association between vulnerability to depression, along with smoking and potential moderating and mediating variables, specifically among the college population.
The researchers, led by Morrell, recruited 1,214 introductory psychology students and offered them course credit for participating. The students were surveyed, with questions included regarding demographics, smoking behaviors, depression and negative reinforcement expectancies.
The researchers examined the data using a separate hierarchical binomial logistic regression to see if gender would moderate the relationship between vulnerability to depression and smoking behavior. They also wanted to examine the relationship between vulnerability to depression and smoking behavior and how it might be mediated by negative reinforcement expectancies.
The results of the study showed that 25 percent of men and 30 percent of women reported a history of depression. A vulnerability to depression in women predicted smoking behavior, but the same results were not seen in men. In women, the vulnerability to depression and smoking behavior was mediated by negative affect reduction.
The study’s results may be limited by the cross-section design, which makes causality impossible to be determined, and the results are based on the biases that are common with self-report. In addition, the results of the study may not be reflective of the general population, because the study recruited only college students.
The findings of the study are important for understanding the connection between smoking and depression among college students. College education and prevention efforts for preventing depression among female students may want to focus on teaching alternative, healthy ways to deal with negative emotions during the college years.
