This study suggests that spousal smoking status influences
one’s own propensity to quit smoking.Compared with subjects
whose spouses had never smoked, subjects whose spouses
were current smokers had significantly lower chances of quitting.
This was true for both men and women and remained
unchanged after controlling for physiological or social factors
that may influence smoking status. This effect was not
symmetrical between sexes; having a spouse who smoked
had a stronger adverse impact on men’s ability to quit than
on women’s. Further, women who were current smokers
and married to former smokers were more likely to quit themselves
compared with women who were married to never
smokers. The association was specific to women; men who
were current smokers and whose spouses were former smokers
had the same odds of quitting smoking as men married to
never smokers. Finally, spousal smoking status was also associated
with one’s own smoking behavior, particularly in
men; smokers married to former or never smokers were likely
to smoke fewer cigarettes per day compared with those married
to current smokers.