Neighborhood poverty increases risk for daily smoking from age 30 to 39

Background: Lower socioeconomic status (SES) has been associated with higher rates of smoking. Few longitudinal studies have examined indicators of SES at both the neighborhood- and individual-level over time in conjunction with proximal risk factors of cigarette smoking.

Purpose: To examine associations of time-varying measures of SES, demographic factors, and proximal risk factors for smoking net of average trajectories of smoking behavior from ages 30 to 39 in a community sample.

Methods: Data from the Seattle Social Development Project (N = 752), a theory-driven longitudinal study originating in Seattle, WA, were used to estimate trajectories of smoking from age 30 to 39. Time-varying measures of neighborhood poverty, coworker smoking, partner smoking, depression, anxiety, education, income, marital status, and parenthood were associated with smoking over time using latent growth curve modeling. Results:

Results indicated that living in higher poverty neighborhoods was uniquely associated with a greater likelihood of smoking net of average trajectories of smoking from age 30 to 39, gender and race/ethnicity, time-varying measures of SES and demographics, and time-varying measures of proximal risk factors for smoking.

Conclusions: Living in higher poverty neighborhoods presents a unique risk for smoking among adults aged 30 to 39 above and beyond multiple aspects of SES and other potential mechanisms relating SES to smoking.