Experiences Using Family or Peer Support for Smoking Cessation and Considerations for Support Interventions: A Qualitative Study in Persons With Mental Health Conditions

Abstract

Background: The current study aimed to understand how people with mental health conditions who currently smoke or recently quit engaged with family members or peers when quitting and assessed interest in involving family or peers in cessation interventions. Methods: Adults with mental health conditions who smoke or had quit within the past 5 years were recruited from publicly funded mental health programs (N = 24). We conducted virtual qualitative interviews between November 2020 and August 2021 and analyzed the data using the rapid thematic analytic approach. Results: Most participants were men (62%), and 71% were current smokers. We found that: having family/peers who were interested in quitting presented communal quitting opportunities, communication that facilitated quitting tended to be encouraging, and strong relationships with family members increased willingness to involve them in cessation interventions. But family or peer support was less helpful for individuals who were not ready to quit. Conclusion: Training family and peers to engage in supportive behaviors may promote cessation in this population. Cessation interventions may benefit from recruiting support partners who share a strong relationship with the smoker.

Keywords:

• Mental health
• quitting smoking
• tobacco use

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to recognize Colleen McKay, MA, CAGs, Ariana Kamberi, MBA, and Lisa Lombardini, MS, RD, LDN for their contributions to the research project which included expertise that aided in recruitment and project management.

Ethics approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study. This study was approved by the Institutional Review Board at the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

A pre-doctoral training grant from the National Cancer Institute [grant number: F31CA263974] supported NCS’s graduate research work. The findings and conclusions in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of the National Cancer Institute.