Lengthy periods of loneliness have been linked to smoking habits.

That's the finding of a study published today (15 June 2020) in Addiction.

The University of Bristol researchers found evidence for a causal link between prolonged experience of loneliness and smoking.

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 that uses genetic and survey data from hundreds of thousands of people, the team found that loneliness appears to lead to an increased likelihood of smoking behaviour.

Co-lead author, Dr Robyn Wootton said: '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.'

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.

Indeed, YouGov's COVID-19 tracker suggested 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.

Senior author Dr Jorien Treur said: '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.'

Deborah Arnott, chief executive of Action of Smoking & Health (ASH) said: 'If lonely people are more likely to start smoking and find it harder to quit, they are more likely to suffer the harm caused by smoking. Smoking is the leading cause of preventable premature death, with thirty times as many people who die suffering serious smoking-related illnesses such as cancer, heart and respiratory disease. This research highlights the need for smokers suffering from loneliness to be given support to stop, to improve not just their health and wellbeing but also to help reduce their loneliness.'

According to the Office of National Statistics (ONS), during the first month of lockdown the equivalent of 7.4 million people said their well-being was affected through feeling lonely. 'Lonely' people were more likely than others to be struggling to find things to help them cope and were also less likely to feel they had support networks to fall back on.

Knowing whether there is a causal effect of loneliness on smoking is important for informing stop smoking services and helping people to quit.

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