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Posts tagged with smoking


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An extra view on smoking

March 20, 2012 by .

Why do people carry on smoking,
and why is stopping smoking so hard to do?

An internal locus of control is when people feels in control of themselves, they feel they can and do affect their own lives, make their own decisions and so on.

An external locus of control is where people feel they don’t have control over their own lives, so that it does not matter what they do or don’t do as it won’t affect them because outside forces and people have the power and make the decisions.

A 2012 USA study has now shown that ‘nicotine dependent’ participants, i.e. people addicted to smoking, are vulnerable to feeling a loss of self-control, to having an external locus of control. The study also found that smoking a cigarette had a double effect, improving mood and restoring a more external locus of control (increased self-control). Clearly this can go some way to explaining why people smoke and why it is so hard to quit the habit. However stopping smoking might be a little less daunting if alternative improving-self-control strategies could be taught, especially if these also raised mood. Suggested strategies include exercise as this puts the person in control and the endorphins released would boost positive mood.

Heckman,B.W., Ditre,J.W. and Brandon,T.H. The restorative effects of smoking upon self-control resources: A negative reinforcement pathway.. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 2012; 121 (1): 244

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Smoking in films – does it influence viewers to take it up?

September 20, 2011 by .

New research suggests that media representation of smoking does influence teenagers to take up the habit. Dr Andrea Waylen and her team at Bristol University examined 360 of the top US box office films released between 2001 and 2005, including those (such as Bridget Jones Diary) that depicted smoking. They found that teenagers who watched films showing actors smoking were more likely to start smoking themselves. Even after controlling for social factors such as whether their parents or peers smoked, the researchers found a significant relationship between adolescent smoking and the number of films they had seen depicting smoking. This has led to the suggestion that in order to cut the numbers of young smokers, films containing scenes of people smoking should be given an 18 certificate.

Watch a discussion of the implications of this research on breakfast television here.

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More ash news from Iceland

April 26, 2010 by .

A study from Decode Genetics in Reykjavik, published in Nature Genetics, suggests that four genes have now been identified – two linked to nicotine dependence and another two linked with nicotine metabolism. These findings, if valid, could lead to better understanding of addiction to smoking and how to treat this addiction.