Researchers have found evidence for a causal link between the prolonged experience of loneliness and smoking in a recent study.
The study led by researchers from the University of Bristol was published in the journal Addiction.
Although numerous studies have shown there is an association, it has been difficult to disentangle whether being lonely leads to substance abuse or if substance abuse leads to loneliness.
By applying a novel research method to the question – Mendelian randomisation – which uses genetic and surveys data from hundreds of thousands of people, the team found that loneliness appears to lead to an increased likelihood of smoking behaviour.
“This method has never been applied to this question before and so the results are novel, but also tentative. We found evidence to suggest that loneliness leads to increased smoking, with people more likely to start smoking, to smoke more cigarettes, and to be less likely to quit,” said co-lead author, Dr Robyn Wootton.
There was evidence that being lonelier increases the likelihood of starting smoking, the number of cigarettes smoked per day and decreases the likelihood of successfully quitting.
This reflects the trends observed during the pandemic – YouGov’s Covid-19 tracker suggests 2.2 million people across the UK are smoking more than they were before lockdown. In the other direction, there was also evidence that starting smoking increased individuals’ loneliness.
“Our finding that smoking may also lead to more loneliness is tentative, but it is in line with other recent studies that identified smoking as a risk factor for poor mental health. A potential mechanism for this relationship is that nicotine from cigarette smoke interferes with neurotransmitters such as dopamine in the brain,” said senior author Dr Jorien Treur.
The team also investigated the relationship between loneliness and alcohol use and abuse and found no clear evidence for a causal relationship there. (ANI)