Young people who have quit smoking are less impulsive and neurotic than those who smoke, according to a new study to be published in the journal Nicotine and Tobacco Research.
"The data indicate that for some young adults smoking is impulsive," said Andrew Littlefield of the University of Missouri in a press release. "That means that 18-year-olds are acting without a lot of forethought and favor immediate rewards over long term negative consequences.”
Although youngsters are aware that smoking is bad for their health, many tend to smoke anyway. However, those individuals who show the greatest decrease in impulsivity are more likely to quit.
"If we can target anti-smoking efforts at that impulsivity, it may help the young people stop smoking," Littlefield said.
The researchers looked at people in the 18-35 age range who smoke and compared them with those in the same age group who had quit smoking.
They discovered that smokers had higher impulsivity and neuroticism levels, and also that people aged 18 to 25 who quit smoking showed the biggest drop in these behaviors, but as people age, personality is less of a driving force behind smoking relative to other factors such as habit formation.
"The motives for smoking later in life—habit, craving, loss of control and tolerance—are key elements of smoking dependence and appear to be more independent of personality traits."
The study is called "Smoking Desistance and Personality Change in Emerging and Young Adulthood."
