The relation between social cohesion and smoking cessation among black smokers, and the potential role of psychosocial mediators

Abstract

Background: Social cohesion, the self-reported trust and connectedness between neighbors, may affect health behaviors via psychosocial mechanisms. Purpose: Relations between individual perceptions of social cohesion and smoking cessation were examined among 397 Black treatment-seeking smokers. Methods: Continuation ratio logit models examined the relation of social cohesion and biochemically verified continuous smoking abstinence through 6 months post-quit. Indirect effects were examined in single mediator models using a nonparametric bootstrapping procedure. All analyses controlled for sociodemographics, tobacco dependence, and treatment. Results: The total effect of social cohesion on continuous abstinence was non-significant (β = 0.05, p = 0.10). However, social cohesion was associated with social support, positive affect, negative affect, and stress, which, in turn, were each associated with abstinence in adjusted models (ps < 0.05). Conclusions: Results suggest that social cohesion may facilitate smoking cessation among Black smokers through desirable effects on psychosocial mechanisms that can result from living in a community with strong interpersonal connections. © 2012 The Society of Behavioral Medicine.