• Anne Kouvonen, Tuula Oksanen, Jussi Vahtera, Ari Väänänen, Roberto De Vogli, Marko Elovainio, Jaana Pentti, Stavroula Leka, Thomas Cox, and Mika Kivimäki.
• Institute of Work, Health and Organizations, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK. anne.kouvonen@nottingham.ac.uk
• Addiction. 2008 Nov 1; 103 (11): 1857-65.

AimsTo examine whether high social capital at work is associated with an increased likelihood of smoking cessation in baseline smokers.DesignProspective cohort study.SettingFinland.ParticipantsA total of 4853 employees who reported to be smokers in the baseline survey in 2000-2002 (response rate 68%) and responded to a follow-up survey on smoking status in 2004-2005 (response rate 77%).MeasurementsWork-place social capital was assessed using a validated and psychometrically tested eight-item measure. Control variables included sex, age, socio-economic position, marital status, place of work, heavy drinking, physical activity, body mass index and physician-diagnosed depression.FindingsIn multi-level logistic regression models adjusted for all the covariates, the odds for being a non-smoker at follow-up were 1.26 [95% confidence interval (CI)=1.03-1.55] times higher for baseline smokers who reported high individual-level social capital than for their counterparts with low social capital. In an analysis stratified by socio-economic position, a significant association between individual-level social capital and smoking cessation was observed in the high socio-economic group [odds ratio (OR) (95% CI)=1.63 (1.01-2.63)], but not in intermediate [(OR=1.10 (0.83-1.47)] or low socio-economic groups [(OR=1.28 (0.86-1.91)]. Work unit-level social capital was not associated with smoking cessation.ConclusionsIf the observed associations are causal, these findings suggest that high perceived social capital at work may facilitate smoking cessation among smokers in higher-status jobs.

19 keywords...

hide…