Stigmatizing smokers not a positive strategy

A study conducted by researchers in Brazil, Germany, the UK and the US suggests that public health campaigns that stigmatize smoking or smokers can, in some cases, backfire, according to a Medical Xpress story relayed by the TMA.

The study, which was published on Monday in Social Science & Medicine, reviewed almost 600 articles relating to ‘smoking self-stigma’.

It suggested that public health campaigns that stigmatize smoking or smokers can, in some cases, lead to a number of outcomes different to the one intended, including relapses, increased resistance to quitting, self-induced social isolation and higher stress levels.

“The stereotypes that smokers deal with are almost universally negative,” said co-author Sara Evans-Lacko of the London School of Economics and Political Science. One of the studies reviewed found that 30-40 percent of smokers felt high levels of family disapproval and social unacceptability, and 27 percent felt they were treated differently because of their smoking status.

Another study found that 39 percent of smokers believed that people thought less of them because of their smoking habit.

Multiple studies cited smokers as using words such as “leper,” “outcast,” “bad person,” “low-life” and “pathetic” to describe their own behavior.

Studies that examined gender biases in relation to smokers found that Pakistani and Bangladeshi women who smoked were seen as “shameful” and “tainted,” while male smokers from the same backgrounds were viewed as “macho”.

Another study showed that women in general were more likely than men to regret taking up smoking.

Co-author Rebecca Evans-Polce of the Bennett Pierce Prevention Research Center at Penn State said negative stereotypes could cause smokers to feel angry and defensive, and might ultimately make them less likely to give up the habit.

The authors said public health campaigns should focus on more positive strategies, reinforcing the benefits of quitting, rather than reiterating negative stereotypes.