Social support and smoking behavior: The impact of network composition and type of support on cessation and relapse

Abstract

The extant literature has examined the structural elements of social support, or the supportive functions of interpersonal relationships of smokers. Seldom have they been studied in conjunction. A questionnaire assessed the frequency with which general and smoking specific support was given to people who went on to become successful abstainers or relapsed during the last attempt to quit, as well as the smoking status of the persons who made up the smoker's network. Results revealed some differential relationships between network composition and type of social support given, depending on the eventual smoking status of the individual.