Four-year prospective evaluation of the relationship between meaning in life and smoking status
dc.contributor.author | Konkoly-Thege, Barna | |
dc.contributor.author | Urbán, Róbert | |
dc.contributor.author | Kopp, Mária S | |
dc.date.accessioned | 2015-03-19T18:04:28Z | |
dc.date.available | 2015-03-19T18:04:28Z | |
dc.date.issued | 2013-02-22 | |
dc.description | Article deposited according to BioMed Central license agreement http://www.biomedcentral.com/authors/license March 19, 2015. | en_US |
dc.description.abstract | Background To date, all investigations on the relationship between smoking and perceived level of meaning in life have used cross-sectional designs. Therefore, the purpose of the present prospective study, conducted with a four-year time lag, was to test the predictive power of the life meaning construct concerning changes in smoking status. Methods The data of 4,294 respondents (40.3% male, Mage = 54.7 ± 16.5 yrs) from the Hungarian Epidemiological Panel Survey were analyzed using the Kruskal-Wallis and Mann–Whitney U-test and structural equation modeling (SEM) with a nominal outcome variable. Gender, age, and educational level were included in the study as covariates. Results On the bivariate level, results showed that both baseline and follow-up meaning in life scores were higher in stable non-smokers when compared to stable smokers. However, quitters and starters differed from stable non-smokers in their baseline but not in follow-up life meaning scores. The other relationships (stable smokers vs. quitters; stable smokers vs. starters, starters vs. quitters) were non-significant in both time points. According to the SEM-analysis, a higher sense of meaning in life measured at baseline and follow-up is associated with a lower likelihood (OR = 0.54, z = 2.80, p = 0.005; OR = 0.64, z = 2.88, p = 0.004, respectively) of being a stable smoker compared to being a stable non-smoker, confirming the expected relationship between smoking and decreased level of meaning in life. However, neither baseline nor follow-up life meaning scores predicted significantly quitting and uptake of smoking. Conclusions If future research from other cultures verifies the protective role of a higher level of meaning in life against smoking, then smoking prevention and cessation programs will also have to include such components that help individuals experience more meaning in their lives. | en_US |
dc.identifier.citation | Konkolÿ Thege, B., Urbán, R., & Kopp, M. S. (2013). Four-year prospective evaluation of the relationship between meaning in life and smoking status. Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy, 8(1), 8. http://doi.org/10.1186/1747-597X-8-8 | en_US |
dc.identifier.doi | http://dx.doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/10095 | |
dc.identifier.uri | http://prism.ucalgary.ca/handle/1880/50375 | |
dc.language.iso | en | en_US |
dc.publisher | BMC Substance abuse treatment, prevention, and policy | en_US |
dc.publisher.corporate | University of Calgary | en_US |
dc.publisher.department | Psychology | en_US |
dc.publisher.faculty | Arts | en_US |
dc.subject | Change in smoking status | en_US |
dc.subject | Meaning in life | en_US |
dc.subject | Prospective design | en_US |
dc.subject | Structural equation modeling | en_US |
dc.title | Four-year prospective evaluation of the relationship between meaning in life and smoking status | en_US |
dc.type | journal article | |
thesis.degree.discipline | Psychology | en_US |