Family History of Smoking and Young Adult Smoking Behavior

Laurie Chassin, Clark Presson, Steven J. Sherman, Sean Mulvenon

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

13 Scopus citations

Abstract

This study compared the smoking behavior and smoking-related beliefs of young adult smokers who did and did not have a family history of cigarette smoking. Those with a family history of smoking smoked more cigarettes in a typical day, smoked for more years, perceived themselves as more addicted to cigarettes, had more positive beliefs about the psychological consequences of smoking, and reported stronger pleasurable relaxation motives and stimulation motives for smoking compared with their peers who had no family history of smoking. Thus, smokers with a family history of smoking were more committed smokers and viewed smoking as having more positive psychological benefit than did their peers without a family history of smoking. Such individual differences may be mediated through both social-environmental and genetically influenced mechanisms.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)102-110
Number of pages9
JournalPsychology of Addictive Behaviors
Volume8
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 1994

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Medicine (miscellaneous)
  • Clinical Psychology
  • Psychiatry and Mental health

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