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

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.