ROLE STRESS, ROLE SOCIALIZATION, AND CIGARETTE-SMOKING - EXAMINING MULTIPLE ROLES AND MODERATING VARIABLES

The current study examined the relations among role stress, role socia lization, and cigarette smoking in a community sample of 1,841 young a dult smokers. We considered multiple roles (occupational, marital, and parental roles, as well as conflict between roles) and also considere d whether role socialization variables (variables associated with role requirements and norms that deter substance use) moderated the relati ons between smoking and role stress. Results suggested that stress in each social role (as well as conflict among roles) predicted smoking b ehavior. However, the relations between role socialization variables a nd smoking were more complex and showed curvilinear relations to smoki ng as well as varying relations for the different roles. Moreover, the re was only modest support for role socialization variables as bufferi ng the relation between role stress and smoking.