Quitting Smoking is Where the Party’s At: A New Study
May 23, 2008 by Liberty Kontranowski
Filed under Health, Relationships, Smoking, Web, Your Body, Your Mind
In a study set to be published in the New England Journal of Medicine on Thursday, researchers have found that quitting smoking is more often a group decision, rather than individual. What kind of group, you ask? A social group.
That’s right, according to the study, smokers tend to quit more in groups, or clusters, rather than on their own.
From 1971 to 2003, Dr. Nicholas Christakis of Harvard Medical School and James Fowler from the University of California, San Diego, followed thousands of smokers and nonsmokers, concentrating on studying participants as part of a “network” of relatives, co-workers, neighbors, friends and friends of friends.
During this time, adult smokers in the US fell from 45 percent to 21 percent, and that drop was due largely to the ripple effect quitters had on their networks. As time went by, entire “clusters” of smokers had quit and prompted other clusters – some only loosely related to their own – to quit as well. And as these clusters disappeared, those that remained smokers grew more isolated, had fewer friends, and kept fewer social connections. Suddenly smokers were no longer the life of the party as they once were – now they were the minority, driving home the idea that not only is smoking bad for your physical health, it can be bad for your relationships as well.
Perhaps the biggest take-away point from this study, however, is how to address smoking cessation going forth. Right now, plans are mainly aimed at individuals. But perhaps the medical industry should be targeting groups? Pair the traditional support of both medicine and behavior-modification with social goals, and see what transpires? It’s a thought.
Here at Healthbolt, we already have a humming social network for quitters which has morphed into a welcoming and supportive group. For that, we’re thankful. But what about in your face-to-face social network, smokers? Would you benefit from quitting in a group-type setting? Would establishing group goals make you hold up your end of the deal better? If all your friends suddenly quit smoking while at work or out for drinks, would you as well?
Drop us a comment to let us know your thoughts on this matter. We’d love to hear from you.
Source and further reading: New York Times
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