Individuals with mental disorders are two to four times more likely to be cigarette smokers as other persons and consume an estimated 44.3% of the cigarettes in the United States. Additionally, there is concern that the smoking population as a whole has """"""""hardened"""""""" or is more resistant to quitting and that over time individuals with mental disorders may constitute a growing faction of the remaining smoking population. Tobacco use in the general population has been studied extensively while there is a dearth of research on tobacco use within the context of mental disorders. Several public access data sources used to assess trends in adult smoking prevalence also include mental health indicators, but we found no peer-reviewed literature examining the issue of tobacco use and mental disorders using these surveys. This R03 grant application is in response to NIMH PA-05-019, Health Behavior Change in People with Mental Disorders and describes a plan to address gaps in the research literature in the area of mental health and tobacco via a secondary data analysis of the National Health Interview Survey. This data seta will be used to achieve the following specific aims of this application: 1) document the prevalence and demographic correlates of tobacco use among individuals with mental disorders and 2) evaluate co-morbidity as a contributor to the """"""""hardening"""""""" hypothesis by examining prevalence of mental disorders among smokers over time. Thus, the significance of this proposed research project is its potential to generate important knowledge about current smokers with mental disorders as well as to assess whether this subgroup of smokers constitutes an increasing proportion of the remaining population of smokers.
The aims of this proposed research project are well-matched to overall goal of the NIMH to better understand the frequency and distribution patterns of health behaviors in people with mental disorders that increase risk for disability, morbidity, and mortality. ? ? ?
| Williams, Jill M; Zimmermann, Mia Hanos; Steinberg, Marc L et al. (2011) A comprehensive model for mental health tobacco recovery in new jersey. Adm Policy Ment Health 38:368-83 |
| Hagman, Brett T; Delnevo, Cristine D; Hrywna, Mary et al. (2008) Tobacco use among those with serious psychological distress: results from the national survey of drug use and health, 2002. Addict Behav 33:582-92 |
