Effect of stressful life events on changes in smoking among the French: longitudinal findings from GAZEL

Background: Changes in life events may play a contributing role in changes in smoking behaviors. The objective was to examine the impact of stressful life events (SLEs) on smoking among French adults. Methods: We examined smoking prevalence in 20 625 employees of the French GAZEL cohort for up to 5 years before and after a SLE during three time periods (years −1 vs. −5; years +1 vs. −1; years +5 vs. +1). Repeated measures analysis of time series data indexed to events were used, employing generalized estimating equations. Results: For women, comparing 1 year after vs. 1 year before SLEs, decreased odds of smoking were found for employment promotion (OR: 0.80; 95% CI = 0.67–0.95), marriage (OR: 0.57; 95% CI = 0.48–0.68) and divorce (OR: 0.78; 95% CI = 0.68–0.90). Comparing 5 years after to 1 year after SLEs, women had decreased odds of smoking for important purchase (OR: 0.87; 95% CI = 0.79–0.96), children leaving home (OR: 0.83; 95% CI = 0.74–0.93), retirement (OR: 0.73; 95% CI = 0.64–0.83) and death of loved one (OR: 0.86; 95% CI = 0.79–0.93). For men, decreased odds of smoking were observed in all three time periods for all SLEs except when comparing 1 year before to 5 years before marriage (OR: 1.66; 95% CI = 1.09–2.52) and divorce (OR: 1.49; 95% CI = 1.25–1.77). Conclusion: Time surrounding SLEs during which individuals are susceptible to changing smoking behaviors may be an important consideration.