Smoking among construction workers: The nonlinear influence of the economy, cigarette prices, and antismoking sentiment

Little research has been conducted on the influence of macroeconomic environments on smoking among blue-collar workers, a group with high smoking prevalence and that is especially vulnerable to the effects of changing economic circumstances. Using data from 52,418 construction workers in the Tobacco Use Supplement to the United States Current Population Survey, we examined the association of labor market shock, cigarette prices, and state antismoking sentiments with smoking status and average number of cigarettes smoked daily. Data analysis included the use of multiple linear and logistic regressions, which employed the sampling and replicate weights to account for sampling design. Unemployed, American–Indian, lower-educated and lower-income workers had higher smoking rates. Labor market shock had a quadratic association, which was non-significant for smoking status and significant for number of cigarettes. The association of cigarette prices with smoking status became non-significant after adjusting for state-level antismoking sentiment. State-level antismoking sentiment had significant quadratic association with smoking status among employed workers and significant quadratic association with number of cigarettes for all smokers. The study highlights how both workplace-based smoking cessation interventions and antismoking sentiments could further contribute to disparities in smoking by employment status.