Quit smoking with a little help from your friends

by julianw | May 21, 2008 at 06:49 pm | 1941 views | 41 comments

“Peer-pressure,” depicted by high-school counselors as a cause of smoking, may also help people to quit, claims a new study.

The urge to smoke is contagious, but quitting apparently is, too. A team of researchers who showed that obesity can spread person-to-person has found a similar pattern with smoking cessation: A smoker is more likely to kick the habit if a spouse, friend, co-worker or sibling did. What's more, smokers tend to quit in groups and those who don't stop puffing increasingly find themselves pushed to the edge of their social circles, the researchers found.
"Your smoking behaviour depends upon not just the smoking behaviour of the people you know, but also the people who they know" and so on, said Dr. Nicholas Christakis, a medical sociologist at Harvard Medical School and lead author of the new report.

The researchers examined the social lives of 12,067 people in the Framingham Heart Study, which has been tracking the health of residents of that Boston suburb from 1971 to 2003. They were able to reconstruct people's ties to one another since participants had to list contact information for their family, friends, co-workers and neighbours so researchers would not lose track of them over the years. The prevalence of smokers in the Framingham study over the years mirrored national trends.
Not surprisingly, the greatest influence was seen in close relationships. When a spouse stops smoking, the other partner is 67 per cent less likely to smoke. Similarly, when a friend quits, the odds of the other continuing drops by 36 per cent. The odds are similar among co-workers and siblings.

People who were connected to others by up to three degrees of separation were also influenced. If one person quits, the odds of a person two degrees apart stopping is 29 per cent. In a three-degree separation, the chances are 11 per cent.

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Jarrett Martineau

at 18:59 on May 21st, 2008

good stuff:

Positive peer pressure -- I like it. Good stuff.

tbphotos

at 01:47 on May 22nd, 2008

Good stuff, julianw. I an presently on a smoking cessation medicine after asking my doctor for the prescription. After 2 weeks on the program, I have gone from one pack per day down to a maximum of 3 or 4 cigararettes per day presently. I firmly believe in a couple a more days, I will be smoke-free. My wife quit smoking about 2 months ago, so the information in your story is quite correct.

Sanjay Jha

at 03:29 on May 22nd, 2008

good stuff:

julianw, I like this story. It's good stuff.

Ye Myo

at 05:09 on May 22nd, 2008

It's killer and yet hard to quit...

Ye Myo has contributed a photo to this story.

xvm

at 06:03 on May 22nd, 2008

I read about this study earlier on cnn.com and thought of my sister and her fiance, both of whom smoked when they visited me in Tampa. This is their collective ashtray. I hope they can kick the habit together some day. Cool site btw, never heard of it.

xvm has contributed a photo to this story.

ogomogo

at 06:27 on May 22nd, 2008

For a while she find something better to do than smoking.

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Tokyo Butterfly

at 07:07 on May 22nd, 2008

Great report!

Many thanks for using my photo to promote cessations

Rocco Peditto

at 09:08 on May 22nd, 2008

A simple symbol, smoking is a big turn -off.

Rocco Peditto has contributed a photo to this story.

haroulaki

at 09:14 on May 22nd, 2008

:) hey.. i'm here too..

interesting research. i wish the cigarette had never been invented..

shutter_se7en

at 09:55 on May 22nd, 2008

This still-life was discovered in an abandoned building that had been sealed up since the early 90s. A person had found there way in and made a home for themselves. This was one of many remnants of human habitation. Found inside a pitch black room, with no windows, I lit this with only a headlamp.

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CarlaMia

at 10:25 on May 22nd, 2008

graphic shot of my son's smoking addiction...hopefully one day soon he will decide to quit...carla

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Aeshec

at 10:46 on May 22nd, 2008

This is very true. It's much easier to quit smoking if other people in your social circle are also trying to quit. One domino down and the rest can fall very easily. For me it was either
A: get my friends to stop with me or...
B: become isolated from them for the first few phases of quiting.

Both of which are very difficult.

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bopo

at 10:56 on May 22nd, 2008

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Drew Bulman

at 10:57 on May 22nd, 2008

I started smoking at a time in my life where I figured I'd die of stress before I died of smoking, but now I'm addicted, unfortunately. I will admit, a cigarette is a pretty big incentive to get me out of bed in the morning, as sad as that sounds.

dropdeadred

at 10:59 on May 22nd, 2008

Ironically enough, this picture was taken outside of a holistic studies center, where everyone's vice is of all things, smoking!

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brand.jones3

at 11:05 on May 22nd, 2008

I quit smoking 2 and a half years ago. These are from my co- workers. I hope they all see this and get sick.

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naughty_b0yee

at 11:31 on May 22nd, 2008

Dont smoke and dont start. I took this at home while I smoked, I quit December 18th 2007 and havent touched them since, best thing I ever did. I lost my father and two aunts in the last 5 years to cancer, please do yourself and your loved ones a favor and dont touch these things.
Thanks for taking a minute to look.

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