Changes in smoking behaviour over family transitions: evidence for anticipation and adaptation effects

Damien Bricard (1) , Stéphane Legleye (2) , Myriam Khlat (3)

1 IRDES - Institut de Recherche et Documentation en Economie de la Santé
2 INSEE
3 INED - Institut national d'études démographiques

Objectives: This paper aimed to analyse the temporal relation between family transitions (partnership formation, first childbirth, separation) and changes in smoking initiation and cessation. Methods: We propose a discrete-time logistic model to explore the timing of changes in terms of leads and lags effects up to three years around the event in order to measure both anticipation and adaptation mechanisms. Retrospective biographical data from the Santé et Itinéraires Professionnels (SIP) survey conducted in France in 2006 are used. Results: Partnership formation was followed for both genders by a fall in initiation and a contemporaneous rise in cessation. Effects related to first childbirth were strongly patterned by gender, as a protective anticipation effect was found in initiation and cessation for women, while only a contemporaneous rise in cessation was observed for men. Separation was preceded by unhealthy behavioural changes in women, while this effect was contemporaneous for men. Conclusion: Our findings highlight opportunities for more targeted interventions over the life course to reduce smoking, and therefore have relevance for general practitioners and public policy elaboration.

Mots clés: smoking; family life transitions; life cycle; longitudinal analysis; anticipation effects; adaptation effects

Domaines: Économie et finance quantitative [q-fin]

Damien Bricard, Stéphane Legleye, Myriam Khlat. Changes in smoking behaviour over family transitions: evidence for anticipation and adaptation effects. 2018. ⟨hal-01831985⟩