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Smoking to cope: Addictive behavior as a response to mental distress

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  • Friedman, Abigail S.

Abstract

Individuals with mental health problems smoke at far higher rates than their peers, and have done for decades. This paper explores a potential explanation: smoking as a means to cope with distress. The proposed “coping response” framework is assessed by analyzing how adolescents respond to two events known to trigger acute mental distress: violent crime victimization and death of a non-family member the respondent felt close to. Consistent with a coping response, these shocks yield statistically significant increases in first cigarette use, recent smoking, and daily smoking, with greater initiation responses among those who are depressed at baseline, and dampened responsiveness among those facing higher cigarette taxes. Back-of-the-envelope estimates suggest that differential responsiveness to adverse events by baseline depression explains 5% of first cigarette use in this sample, and almost a third of the gap in adolescent smoking initiation between those in the highest and lowest terciles of depression scores.

Suggested Citation

  • Friedman, Abigail S., 2020. "Smoking to cope: Addictive behavior as a response to mental distress," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jhecon:v:72:y:2020:i:c:s0167629619307738
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2020.102323
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Renner, Anna-Theresa & Shaikh, Mujaheed & Spitzer, Sonja, 2023. "The long-term impact of maternal leave duration on smoking behavior," MPRA Paper 118675, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Carpenter, Christopher S. & Sansone, Dario, 2021. "Cigarette taxes and smoking among sexual minority adults," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    4. Grossman, Daniel & Khalil, Umair, 2022. "Neighborhood crime and infant health," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 130(C).
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    6. Francesco Berlingieri & Matija Kovacic, 2023. "Health and relationship quality of the LGBTQIA+ population in Europe," Working Papers 2023: 29, Department of Economics, University of Venice "Ca' Foscari".

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Smoking; Mental health; Addiction; Risky behaviors;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • I14 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Inequality

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