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Smokers their own worst enemies when it comes to treatment

June 07, 2006

CigaretteSmokers tend to be more disagreeable, less conscientious and more neurotic than non-smokers, making it difficult to treat them for their addiction, a University of New England study has found.

The study analysed the results of nine studies conducted in four countries, involving almost 5000 participants. The studies looked at how smokers score against what psychologists term the “Big 5” personality traits: neuroticism, extroversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness and openness to experience. On average, smokers were found to score higher than average for neuroticism (the tendency to experience negative emotions) and lower than average for conscientiousness (the tendency to show self-discipline and a sense of duty) and agreeableness (the tendency to be cooperative).

Dr John Malouff, a researcher involved in the study, said negative personality traits made smokers less likely to seek help and more likely to drop out of a course of treatment if they started one.

“Conscientiousness and agreeableness are very important traits if people are seeking help for a problem like cigarette addiction. Having a conscientious personality can mean people keep coming to therapy and doing their 'assignments', like recording the number of cigarettes they smoke and their mood throughout the day, as well as practising replacement behaviours instead of smoking.”

Low levels of conscientiousness and agreeableness were a double handicap to smokers, he said.

“Getting anyone to follow a course of treatment can be difficult,” Dr Malouff said. “Some people will do it out of conscientiousness. Others will do it out of agreeableness; they're just happy to go along with you. But when you have people who are low in both, as smokers tend to be, then you have a problem. You are going to be able to help some, but you're going to have a high failure rate.”

Dr Malouff said the results of his study suggested health workers might need to concentrate on increasing smokers' conscientiousness and agreeableness as part of treating their addiction. He said that while the “Big 5” personality traits were regarded as fairly stable, people could still learn to change their attitudes and behaviours in specific areas of their life.

“If we can just get them to increase their conscientiousness in one aspect of their life – quitting smoking – we may be able to help them more,” he said.

Dr Malouff said smoking used to be associated with extraversion, a positive trait, but that association has disappeared as smoking has become less socially acceptable.

“As more and more people give up, it's only the hard-core that is left. People know smoking is deadly for them, they know it's deadly for the people they live and work with, and yet many of them still don’t give it up.”

Dr Malouff is now working on a study that applies the same personality tests to problem drinkers, and said he hoped to expand the research to look at users of other drugs, such as marajuana.

For more information contact Leon Braun (UNE Public Relations) on (02) 6773 3771.

Posted by Leon Braun at June 7, 2006 03:47 PM