Examining Arrest and Cigarette Smoking in Emerging Adulthood

Disparities in Current Cigarette Smoking Among US Adults With Mental Health Conditions

INTRODUCTION

Prevalence of cigarette smoking is disproportionally high among US adults with mental health conditions. Adults with mental health conditions who smoke cigarettes are at increased risk for smoking-related illness and death compared with adults without mental health conditions.

METHODS

We analyzed pooled data from the 2019 and 2020 National Survey on Drug Use and Health to provide national estimates of current cigarette smoking prevalence among US adults aged 18 years or older who reported having in the past year any mental illness, serious mental illness, mild or moderate mental illness, serious psychological distress, and/or major depressive episode (N = 19,398) and state-level estimates for any mental illness.

RESULTS

Prevalence of cigarette smoking for serious mental illness was 27.2%; serious psychological distress and major depressive disorder, 25.0%; serious psychological distress, 24.5%; any mental illness, 22.8%; mild or moderate mental illness, 21.2%; and major depressive disorder, 17.6%. State-level cigarette smoking prevalence among adults with any mental illness ranged from 11.7% in Utah to 42.1% in Louisiana, with a median of 24.7%.

CONCLUSION

The prevalence of current cigarette smoking is higher among adults with any mental illness, psychological distress, and major depressive disorder than among those without any mental illness, especially among adults who are non-Hispanic American Indian or Alaska Native, Hispanic, lesbian, gay, or bisexual and among those who are experiencing poverty, are uninsured, or have been arrested and booked in the past year. Continued improvement in integration of smoking cessation interventions into mental health treatment, equitable implementation of comprehensive commercial tobacco control policies, and population-specific approaches could reduce cigarette smoking among adults with mental health conditions.

Tobacco-related health inequalities among Black Americans: A narrative review of structural and historical influences

We conducted a narrative literature review to examine contributing factors of disparities in tobacco usage and outcomes affecting Black Americans. We propose potential solutions that can be used to effectively address these disparities. We identified historical factors; socioeconomic factors; targeted marketing/advertising; the influence of racism/discrimination; neighborhood socioeconomic disadvantage; and mass incarceration. We call for more thorough examinations of these factors as a key element of tobacco-focused research and interventions to eliminate the disproportionate burdens faced by Black Americans. We advocate for greater emphases on the impacts of personal and structural racism on tobacco usage and outcomes affecting Black Americans.

The Longitudinal Impact of Arrest, Criminal Conviction, and Incarceration on Smoking Classes

Background

Previous research identifies three to six smoking classes over the life course. This study expands on earlier work about the impact of getting arrested in early adulthood on individuals' smoking classes, by including additional, more serious measures of justice system involvement (JSI), specifically criminal conviction and incarceration. Family processes were examined as secondary outcomes.

Method

Data from seventeen waves (1997-2015) of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth were analyzed via group-based trajectory modeling (GBTM), multinomial logistic regression, and latent transition analyses (LTA). Smoking behavior through age 36 is examined. Marital status, parenthood, juvenile smoking, juvenile arrest, and prior crime victimization experiences were also included in the models.

Results

Seven smoking classes were revealed: two low- or non-smoking classes; two decreasing classes; and three "problem" smoking (e.g., increasing, or chronic) classes. All JSI types increased the likelihood of being in a smoking class rather than a non-smoking class. Arrest and conviction had larger odds ratios than the most severe form of JSI-incarceration-with respect to respondents' likelihood of being in an increasing or chronic smoking class. Juvenile smoking was the most robust predictor of smoking in adulthood.

Conclusion

Involvement with the justice system in all forms remains a negative health factor that increases smoking. While not typically a goal of criminal justice officials, attention should be paid to this unintended consequence of involvement with the justice system-increased smoking-given smoking's connection to serious illnesses such as cancer. As juvenile smoking is a strong risk factor for adult smoking, smoking prevention and cessation programs should start with youth; and be part of the offerings to individuals ensnared in the justice system at all levels.