Educational disadvantage and cigarette smoking during pregnancy

Drug Alcohol Depend. 2009 Oct 1;104 Suppl 1(Suppl 1):S100-5. doi: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2009.03.013. Epub 2009 May 12.

Abstract

This study examined the influence of education on smoking status in a cohort (n=316) of pregnant women who were smokers at the time they learned of the current pregnancy. Subjects were participants in clinical trials examining the efficacy of monetary-based incentives for smoking-cessation and relapse prevention. In multivariate analyses, educational achievement was a robust predictor of smoking status upon entering prenatal care, of achieving abstinence antepartum among those still smoking at entry into prenatal care, and of smoking status at 6-month postpartum in the entire cohort and the subsample who received smoking-cessation treatment. In addition to educational attainment, other predictors of smoking status included smoking-related characteristics (e.g., number of cigarettes/day smoked pre-pregnancy), treatment, maternal age, and stress ratings. We suggest that strategies to increase educational attainment be included with more conventional tobacco-control policies in efforts to reduce smoking among girls and young women.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Multicenter Study
  • Randomized Controlled Trial
  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Educational Status
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Postpartum Period
  • Pregnancy
  • Prenatal Care / economics*
  • Prenatal Care / methods
  • Smoking / economics*
  • Smoking / epidemiology*
  • Smoking Cessation / economics
  • Vulnerable Populations*
  • Young Adult