Role stress, role socialization, and cigarette smoking: Examining multiple roles and moderating variables

The current study examined the relations among role stress, role socialization, and cigarette smoking in a community sample of 1,841 young adult smokers. We considered multiple roles (occupational, marital, and parental roles, as well as conflict between roles) and also considered whether role socialization variables (variables associated with role requirements and norms that deter substance use) moderated the relations between smoking and role stress. Results suggested that stress in each social role (as well as conflict among roles) predicted smoking behavior. However, the relations between role socialization variables and smoking were more complex and showed curvilinear relations to smoking as well as varying relations for the different roles. Moreover, there was only modest support for role socialization variables as buffering the relation between role stress and smoking.