Smokers vs. Nonsmokers: Toward an Understanding of Their Differences.

This research was conducted to contribute to the general knowledge concerning differences between smokers and nonsmokers. The data were obtained from a major epidemiologic study conducted in 1973 in the southeastern United States. A survey instrument composed of 403 questions and administered to 2029 randomly selected adults was designed to elicit mental and physical health information as well as sociodemographic and service utilization data. Significant differences have been found between smokers and nonsmokers. The highest percentage of smokers was found among males, those aged 30-44, the less educated, the divorced or separated, the middle socioeconomic class, those experiencing larger numbers of stressful life events, those who did not grow up with both their real parents, and those who had unhappy childhoods. Smokers as a group tended to score higher on psychological scales measuring anxiety and depressive symptomatology. The findings support that smoking is a compensatory form of behavior, a symptom of other problems of emotional health. Until it becomes possible to identify individuals who are biologically cancer-prone and to therefore direct educational efforts toward specific target groups who will suffer the most debilitating consequences of smoking, intervention must be persistent, individualized, and socially reinforced. (charts and graphs are included in the report.) (SK)