Childhood abuse and risk of smoking onset.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the association between childhood abuse and becoming a smoker.


METHODS
Retrospective cohort study.


METHODS
Boston, Massachusetts.


METHODS
722 women aged 36-45 years who completed the baseline questionnaire for the Harvard study of moods and cycles and the survey of interpersonal relationships.


RESULTS
Women who experienced either physical or sexual abuse as a child were 40% more likely to begin smoking compared with women with no history of abuse (95% CI 1.0 to 2.0). Virtually all of this association was confined to sexual abuse (OR = 2.2, 95% CI 1.1 to 4.3) as compared with physical abuse (OR = 0.7, 95% CI 0.7 to 1.6). However, the joint effect of experiencing both physical and sexual abuse as a child led to a 3.5-fold increase in the likelihood of becoming a smoker (95% CI 1.3 to 9.4) compared with women who did not experience any childhood abuse after adjustment for religion, social class, and poverty.


CONCLUSIONS
Women who experience childhood abuse, even in the absence of depression, are at increased risk of becoming cigarette smokers.
Nichols
H B
HB
Department of Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.
Harlow
B L
BL
D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002649:Child Abuse / Q000523:psychology*; D002650:Child Abuse, Sexual / Q000523:psychology; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005239:Fear; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008404:Massachusetts; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012907:Smoking / Q000523:psychology*; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors