Preventive functions of provided and received social support: a daily diary study

Abstract

Background: Social support is expected to have preventive functions on health outcomes. In the context of smoking cessation smokers who reported high support showed higher quit success. However, participants supported by a smoker are less likely to achieve abstinence. So far, the focus was not on smoking couples. This study aimed at examining received and provided support in smoking couples applying a dyadic approach. Methods: Overall, 85 dual-smoker couples reported in daily dairies their smoking behavior, positive affect, and received and provided support after a joint quit attempt. Findings: Multilevel analysis revealed that on days with higher-than-average amount of received and provided emotional and instrumental support both couple’s members smoked fewer cigarettes and reported more positive affect. Discussion: Results do confirm benefits of daily received and provided support for smoking-smoking couples regarding a joint smoking cessation. Further research should pursue dyadic approaches in the context of smoking cessation.