Research Report
Personality and smoking: individual‐participant meta‐analysis of nine cohort studies
Abstract
Aims
To investigate cross‐sectional and longitudinal associations between personality and smoking, and test whether socio‐demographic factors modify these associations.
Design
Cross‐sectional and longitudinal individual‐participant meta‐analysis.
Setting
Nine cohort studies from Australia, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Participants
A total of 79 757 men and women (mean age = 50.8 years).
Measurements
Personality traits of the five‐factor model (extraversion, neuroticism, agreeableness, conscientiousness and openness to experience) were used as exposures. Outcomes were current smoking status (current smoker, ex‐smoker and never smoker), smoking initiation, smoking relapse and smoking cessation. Associations between personality and smoking were modelled using logistic and multinomial logistic regression, and study‐specific findings were combined using random‐effect meta‐analysis.
Findings
Current smoking was associated with higher extraversion [odds ratio per 1 standard deviation increase in the score: 1.16; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.08–1.24], higher neuroticism (1.19; 95% CI = 1.13–1.26) and lower conscientiousness (95% CI = 0.88; 0.83–0.94). Among non‐smokers, smoking initiation during the follow‐up period was predicted prospectively by higher extraversion (1.22; 95% CI = 1.04–1.43) and lower conscientiousness (0.80; 95% CI = 0.68–0.93), whereas higher neuroticism (1.16; 95% CI = 1.04–1.30) predicted smoking relapse among ex‐smokers. Among smokers, smoking cessation was negatively associated with neuroticism (0.91; 95% CI = 0.87–0.96). Socio‐demographic variables did not appear to modify the associations between personality and smoking.
Conclusions
Adult smokers have higher extraversion, higher neuroticism and lower conscientiousness personality scores than non‐smokers. Initiation into smoking is associated positively with higher extraversion and lower conscientiousness, while relapse to smoking among ex‐smokers is associated with higher neuroticism.
Citing Literature
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