title: Financial strain and smoking cessation among men and women within a self-guided quit attempt.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Financial strain, defined as an unfavorable asset-to-needs ratio, has been associated with reduced odds of smoking cessation in the context of a structured clinical study providing cessation assistance. This study reports on a secondary data analysis that assessed the association of financial strain and biochemically-verified smoking abstinence within a structured clinical study of smokers making a self-guided cessation attempt.
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants (N=58; 65.5% men) were enrolled in a study about anxiety sensitivity and smoking cessation whereby they were instructed to initiate a self-guided quit attempt. Relations between financial strain and biochemically-verified smoking abstinence on the quit day and at Days 3, 7, 14, 28, and 90 post-quit were assessed using generalized estimating equations controlling for age, sex, race, education, partner status, pre-quit cigarettes smoked per day, and time.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Associations between financial strain and abstinence in the whole sample were marginal (aOR=.94, 95% CI=.87-1.01, observations=293; p=.07). However, sex was a significant moderator: greater financial strain was associated with lower odds of abstinence for men (aOR=.90, 95% CI=.80-1.00, observations=201; p=.05), but not women (aOR=1.05, 95% CI=.91-1.21, observations=92; p=.48).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Results indicated that financial strain was associated with lower odds of cessation among men undergoing a self-guided quit attempt in the context of a structured clinical study. These data suggest that financial strain may be an important socioeconomic determinant of smoking cessation and support its relevance for better understanding socioeconomic-based smoking-related health disparities. Future work may benefit by exploring sex-specific models of financial strain in the context of smoking cessation.
authors: The University of Houston, College of Education, Department of Psychological, Health, & Learning Sciences, 491 Farish Hall, Houston, TX 77204-5029, USA. Electronic address: Lrreitzel@uh.edu.
authors: Lorraine R
authors: LR
authors: Reitzel
authors: The National Center for PTSD, Women's Health Sciences Division, VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA 02118, USA.
authors: Kirsten J
authors: KJ
authors: Langdon
authors: Istat Solutions, Houston, TX 77346, USA.
authors: Nga T
authors: NT
authors: Nguyen
authors: The University of Houston, College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, Department of Psychology, 126 Heyne Building, Suite 104, Houston, TX 77204, USA.
authors: Michael J
authors: MJ
authors: Zvolensky
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001007:Anxiety / Q000150:complications / Q000191:economics / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009042:Motivation; D020377:Self Efficacy; D012737:Sex Factors; D016540:Smoking Cessation / Q000191:economics* / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000150:complications / Q000191:economics* / Q000523:psychology*; D014029:Tobacco Use Disorder / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Financial strain; Self-guided quit attempt; Sex differences; Smoking cessation; Smoking disparities; Socioeconomic status