Effects of fun-seeking and external locus of control on smoking behaviour: a cross-sectional analysis on a cohort of working men in Singapore

Kar Fye Alvin Lee; Eun Hee Lee; Adam Charles Roberts; Josip Car; Chee Kiong Soh; Georgios Christopoulos

doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2022-061318

Effects of fun-seeking and external locus of control on smoking behaviour: a cross-sectional analysis on a cohort of working men in Singapore

BMJ Open. 2022 Oct 28;12(10):e061318. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2022-061318.

Authors

Kar Fye Alvin Lee¹, Eun Hee Lee², Adam Charles Roberts³, Josip Car⁴, Chee Kiong Soh^{5

6}, Georgios Christopoulos⁷

Affiliations

¹ Nanyang Business School, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.
² School of Psychology, University of Nottingham Malaysia, Semenyih, Malaysia.
³ Future Resilient Systems, Singapore-ETH Centre, Singapore.
⁴ Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.
⁵ School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.
⁶ School of Civil Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing, China.
⁷ Nanyang Business School, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore CGeorgios@ntu.edu.sg.

Abstract

Objectives: We examined the combined effects of behavioural inhibition and behavioural activation, on one hand, and locus of control, on the other hand, on different categories of smoking behaviour (non-smoking, ex-smoking, occasional smoking, daily smoking).

Design: This study adopted a cross-sectional design. Participants completed questionnaires regarding demographics, smoking patterns, behavioural inhibition/behavioural activation systems and locus of control.

Setting: The study was conducted across four companies from the transportation, cooling plant and education sectors in Singapore.

Participants: Three hundred sixty-nine male working adults were included in the final sample.

Results: Corroborating previous research, a logistic regression model examining behavioural inhibition/behavioural activation systems revealed that the fun-seeking aspect of behavioural activation was a unique predictor in distinguishing non-smokers from daily smokers (OR=1.24, p=0.012). By contrast, in a separate model examining locus of control, external locus of control was found to be a unique predictor in distinguishing non-smokers from daily smokers (OR=1.13, p<0.001). In addition, a third model combining both behavioural inhibition/behavioural activation systems and locus of control found that only external locus of control remained a significant predictor (OR=1.12, p<0.001). Further analyses revealed a mediating effect of external locus of control on the relationship between fun-seeking and smoking behaviour. That is, the increase in the odds of daily smoking due to fun-seeking was explained by external locus of control (direct pathway OR=1.20, p=0.058; indirect pathway OR=1.04, p<0.050).

Conclusions: Overall, fun-seeking through its influence on external locus of control indirectly affects daily smoking behaviour, suggesting a more complex relationship than shown in previous research.

Keywords: mental health; public health; substance misuse.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adult
Cohort Studies
Cross-Sectional Studies
Humans
Internal-External Control*
Male
Singapore / epidemiology
Smoking* / epidemiology