The association between smoking and psychopathology adjusted for body mass index and gender

Abstract

Objective: This study examined the correlation between smoking habits and psychopathology status, as well as the impact of confounders such as body mass index and gender. Method: A total of 134 non-smokers and 152 smokers were enrolled in this study. We measured psychopathology features using Symptom Checklist 90-Revised. We ran logistic regression models testing the smoking–psychopathology association, controlling for body mass index and gender. Results: Smoking was positively correlated with depression, interpersonal sensitivity, hostility, somatization, paranoid ideation and psychoticism ( P<0.05). Adjusting for body mass index and gender, the results remained largely unchanged, with a slight independent effect of body mass index. Conclusions: Our data suggest that smoking is a stronger predictor of psychopathology than body mass index and gender.