Nearly 25% of the US population smokes tobacco (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), even though the risks of smoking are known worldwide. So why do so many people smoke? Since cigarettes have been purchased, smokers often report that cigarettes relieve stress. The strange thing about that statement is that smokers tend to have a higher stress level then non-smokers. Teenagers who smoke report more stress as they develop a more frequent smoking pattern, they also report that quitting smoking reduces their stress. Why do smokers tend to believe that smoking reduces stress when there is evidence stating that smoking causes stress? So does smoking really increase stress, or does smoking relieve stress? .
Yager noted the positive correlation could indicate that stress increases smoking, but it could indicate that smoking increases stress. Yager speaks about Wills who conducted a study, in this study, samples of junior high school students were surveyed on four occasions over a 2-year period, and multiple regression was used to predict changes in smoking and alcohol use from stress measures at baseline. In this study significant results of stress were found to increase with the use of cigarettes and alcohol over time. Many suggested that this study showed that stress levels in children who became more frequent smokers increased over time. But, this was false there were no such findings in Wills's article. Yager then decided to run his own study to see if there was a link between smoking and stress. The hypothesis that negative affect is a risk factor for increase in smoking over time is more consistent with theoretical models posting that smoking has affect-regulation functions (Yager 2003) and with research showing that among users, measures of perceived coping functions are strongly related to current levels of smoking and alcohol use (Wills, Sandy & Shinar, 1999).
