Perceptions of COVID-related risks among people who smoke: A mediation model

The COVID-19 pandemic provides both reasons to quit smoking as well as stress that may promote increased cigarette consumption. Perceptions of COVID-19 risk related to smoking may motivate cessation among smokers. At the same time, other evidence shows that affective perceptions (i.e., worry) could lead to increased smoking as a coping mechanism. Using a sample drawn from a rural region of California (N = 295), we examined the relationship between perceptions about health risks for smokers during the pandemic and both reported increases in smoking frequency and intentions to quit smoking. We also examined whether worry about health risks mediated these relationships. High perceived risk was associated both with reported increases in smoking frequency as well as greater intentions to quit smoking. Worry partially mediated both these relationships, with worry accounting for 29.11% of the variance in the relationship between high risk perceptions and increased smoking as well as 20.17% of the relationship between risk perceptions and intentions to quit smoking. These findings suggest that while smokers’ awareness about their increased risk of COVID-19 can motivate intent to quit smoking in the future, smokers may require greater support to act on these intentions.