Smoking among Disadvantaged Women: Causes and Cessation

This study aimed to identify social-psychological factors associated with smoking and smoking cessation among disadvantaged women. Individual and group interviews were conducted with disadvantaged women in Atlantic Canada, Participants were predominantly poor, unemployed, geographically isolated, and single parents. The factors associated with smoking included coping with stresses, loneliness, powerlessness, low self-efficacy, social pressures, and addiction. Support from peers (i.e., women in similar circumstances) and partners was considered important. Health professionals and traditional cessation programs were not perceived as supportive. Participants viewed women's centres and women's agencies as appropriate deliverers of cessation programs. Methodological issues are discussed.