‘I Was Smoking a Lot More during Lockdown Because I Can’: A Qualitative Study of How UK Smokers Responded to the Covid-19 Lockdown
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Sample and Recruitment
2.2. Data Collection
2.3. Data Analysis
3. Results
3.1. Changes to Routine and Boredom
“My smoking increased twofold… It was boredom more than anything, playing a game or watching TV, and then obviously it would go on a break or it would finish, so then I’d go for a fag.”(P15, male, 31, furloughed, smoker, household with children, access to private outdoor space)
Interviewer: “So, you said you smoked more during lockdown?”Respondent: “Yeah, no sauna, no steam, no arranging for tennis, no meeting up with my friends, all those things.”(P25, female, 61, home working, smoker, all adult household, no access to private outdoor space)
“He (husband) was definitely smoking less. He said that himself on a couple of occasions… because at work he’s sort of…he’s in and out of jobs so when he’s been on his way to one job he has a cigarette and then he goes in, comes out, has a cigarette on his way to the next job. Whereas at home he’s not doing that.”(P20, female, 28, furloughed, non-smoker, household with children, no access to private outdoor space)
“I tried (giving up smoking) before but I’ve never really stuck at it. If I went out drinking, I’d always start back up. And then obviously…how it is at the minute with social distancing, we couldn’t go out together for a fag at work with friends. So yeah, there have been some benefits to lockdown.”(P15, male, 31, furloughed, smoker, household with children, access to private outdoor space)
“I was smoking a lot more during lockdown, because I can, because at work they don’t like it if you go out every ten minutes, it’s a bit rude. So at work I would, you know, I’d start work at eight, and I’d go out sort of twice in the morning and then once in the afternoon, whereas at home I could be lighting up a cigarette every ten minutes.”(P19, female, 54, home working, smoker, single person household, no access to private outdoor space)
“We were doing Zoom calls, because you couldn’t go anywhere,… so there’d be like six or seven of us in our own houses drinking and Zooming….)and) because I was in my house, I would smoke a lot more. Whereas if we were in the pub then I’d have to keep going out for a cigarette…. also the pubs used to shut at 12, whereas we’d be Zooming ‘til two, three and four in the morning.”(P19, female, 54, home working, smoker, single person household, no access to private outdoor space)
“I was vaping full-time (during lockdown)… It was basically to try and save going to the shop every day (for cigarettes) to minimise contact with people. I didn’t want to have to go to a shop all the time.”(P10, female, 45, furloughed, smoker, household with children, no access to private outdoor space)
3.2. Confinement and Stress
Interviewer: “So you found it more stressful during lockdown, is that right?”
Respondent: “Yes, (I was probably smoking more…) because you’re cooped up, aren’t you? Basically, in the house rather than having flexibility and a bit of freedom to go out and go to places.”(P13, male, 36, home working, smoker, household with children, access to private outdoor space)
“At first I saw it as an opportunity to cut down, but then I think as the situation progressed and having the kids at home I felt more stressed which in turn made me want to smoke more.…They were asking for help with their school work and I’d tell them to hold on a minute—‘Oh, you’re always in the kitchen smoking’, I’d get comments like that from them.”(P24, female, 33, home working, smoker, household with children, no access to private outdoor space)
“He (partner) smoked more because it became very stressful at work….It was the fact none of his (residential) clients could go out, so he was having to do more for them in the home. Obviously, they would get cranky and stuff because they weren’t going out, doing their usual activities, so he was coming home, moaning… obviously about how stressed he was, and then my daughter would go off on one (become agitated), so obviously it all adds up.”(P17, female, 22, furloughed, non-smoker, household with children, no access to private outdoor space)
3.3. Smoking Concealment
“He (husband) would go to the bathroom and open the window and then I’d go crazy because of the smell (of smoke)… He tries to close the door and fob me off (make excuses for being in there).”(P08, female, 45, home working, smoker, all adult household, access to private outdoor space).
“I was just a bit more conscious that the family were around, you know (wife and daughter both non-smokers). So, if we were doing things outside, I’d be tending to not smoke as much in their presence. Well they’re avid anti-smokers. So I’m a scourge…They’re constantly bickering, ‘cause of the (my) diabetes more than anything else.”(P03, male, 71, retired, smoker, all adult household, access to private outdoor space)
“I would never be one of those people that would go outside and walk down the street with a cigarette, I’m not one of those people. If I leave the house, I don’t smoke… I wouldn’t smoke in public.”(P08, female, 45, home working, smoker, all adult household, access to private outdoor space)
“She wouldn’t (smoke in the flat)…. She’d wait until I got home from work…. Even if she really needed a cigarette, she’d have to wait till I got home…. she’s never smoked up here (in the flat). The kids don’t even know she smokes… she’s always hid it from them.”(P05, male, 41, working, smoker, household with children, no access to private outdoor space)
“Pre-lockdown we didn’t think he (teenage son) went anywhere near tobacco, but since lockdown he’s...well, I’d say he’s partially addicted to nicotine. He tries to hide it…. I mean, he’s got a cough, which is horrendous, which we keep telling him is due to his smoking. But as I said, he’s suffering with some (mental health) issues at the moment, so it’s difficult to get him to understand things at the moment…It’s been massively difficult.”(P11, male, 50, home working, non-smoker, household with children, access to private outdoor space)
“He (teenage son) couldn’t get access to anything and anyone (to obtain cigarettes during full lockdown)…. He was ordering, you know, liquid stuff for vapes (online), but as soon as that went and he was able to see friends, then the pattern changed, basically (he went back to smoking)…I mean, it is illegal for him to smoke, he’s only 15… The vape stuff, they don’t really control very well on websites, but, obviously, tobacco, they do more so.”(P11, male, 50, home working, non-smoker, household with children, access to private outdoor space)
3.4. Diversionary Activity
“I think probably during the hot weather, I didn’t smoke as much. I would keep myself occupied doing other things. Like, when I was gardening, I wouldn’t be smoking because I was too busy. So the more…I suppose the busier I was, the less I smoked.”(P03, male, 71, retired, smoker, all adult household, access to private outdoor space)
“Before lockdown I would smoke indoors. But during lockdown, I had to make myself a bit busy, as you do, and I said to my wife, ‘right, let’s decorate the house’. And I hadn’t realised how much the smoke affected the colour of the walls… and that was it, I turned round and said, ‘That’s it, to save me keep painting like this, I’m smoking outside or by the front door’… so it was completely zero (smoking) indoors after I’d decorated.”(P06, male, 55, ft/carer, smoker, household with children, access to private outdoor space)
“Now we’ve got to actually get up (from our seat) and go into the kitchen and spend, say, five minutes away from what you’re doing so you think, ‘I’ll wait ‘til the end of this’ or whatever (before I go through to the kitchen for a smoke)….And also, as well, we’ve got a habit of only having half (a cigarette) and then coming back and having the other half a bit later on. Whereas that wouldn’t happen if we were sitting (relaxing having a smoke) in the front room.”(P14, female, 54, home working, smoker, all adult household, access to private outdoor space)
4. Discussion
5. Conclusions
Supplementary Materials
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Participant | Sex | Age | Social Grade 1 | Work Status 2 | Access to Private Outdoor Space 3 | Household Type 4 | Smoke-Free Home 5 | Household Smoking Status 6 | Participant Smoking Status | Impact on Smoking 7 | Impact on no. of Hours Spent at Home Each Day 8 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
P01 | Male | 71 | E | retired | yes | all adult | yes | smoking | non-smoker | no change | +2 h 30 m |
P02 | Male | 66 | B | retired | yes | single | no | smoking | smoker | inc- > dec | +2 h 00 m |
P03 | Male | 71 | E | retired | yes | all adult | yes | mixed | smoker | no change | +2 h 50 m |
P04 | Male | 45 | C2 | temp | yes | family | no | smoking | smoker | inc | +8 h 00 m |
P05 | Male | 41 | D | work | no | family | yes | smoking | smoker | no change | +1 h 00 m |
P06 | Male | 55 | E | ft/carer | yes | family | no | mixed | smoker | dec | +1 h 00 m |
P07 | Male | 31 | D | unemp | no | single | yes | smoking | smoker | no change | +10 h 58 m |
P08 | Female | 45 | C2 | h/home 9 | yes | all adult | yes | smoking | smoker | dec | −2 h 30 m |
P09 | Male | 40 | C2 | furl | no | family | yes | mixed | non-smoker | dec | +6 h 24 m |
P10 | Female | 45 | C1 | furl | no | family11 | no | Smoking 13 | smoker | dec- > inc | +8 h 28 m |
P11 | Male | 50 | B | h/work | yes | family | yes | Mixed 14 | non-smoker | not known | +7 h 10 m |
P12 | Male | 61 | B | work 10 | yes | all adult | yes | mixed | smoker | inc | +10 h 00 m |
P13 | Male | 36 | C1 | h/work | yes | family | yes | mixed | smoker | inc | +9 h 45 m |
P14 | Female | 54 | C1 | h/work | yes | all adult | no | smoking | smoker | dec | +8 h 42 m |
P15 | Male | 31 | D | furl | yes | family | yes | smoking | smoker | inc- > dec 15 | +6 h 00 m |
P16 | Male | 65 | E | retired | yes | all adult | yes | mixed | non-smoker | no change | +1 h 15 m |
P17 | Female | 22 | D | furl | no | family12 | no | mixed | non-smoker | inc | +4 h 40 m |
P18 | Female | 68 | C1 | retired | no | single | yes | smoking | smoker | no change | +2 h 20 m |
P19 | Female | 54 | C1 | h/work | no | single | no | smoking | smoker | inc | +11 h 30 m |
P20 | Female | 28 | C2 | furl | no | family | yes | mixed | non-smoker | dec | +8 h 50 m |
P21 | Female | 28 | C2 | unemp | no | family12 | yes | mixed | non-smoker | inc- > dec | +3 h 05 m |
P22 | Female | 73 | E | retired | yes | all adult | yes | mixed | non-smoker | no change | +0 h 30 m |
P23 | Female | 70 | B | furl | yes | all adult | yes | mixed | non-smoker | inc | +7 h 15 m |
P24 | Female | 33 | C1 | h/work | no | family11 | no | smoking | smoker | inc | +8 h 10 m |
P25 | Female | 61 | B | h/work | no | all adult | no | mixed | smoker | inc | +4 h 05 m |
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O’Donnell, R.; Eadie, D.; Stead, M.; Dobson, R.; Semple, S. ‘I Was Smoking a Lot More during Lockdown Because I Can’: A Qualitative Study of How UK Smokers Responded to the Covid-19 Lockdown. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18, 5816. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18115816
O’Donnell R, Eadie D, Stead M, Dobson R, Semple S. ‘I Was Smoking a Lot More during Lockdown Because I Can’: A Qualitative Study of How UK Smokers Responded to the Covid-19 Lockdown. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2021; 18(11):5816. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18115816
Chicago/Turabian StyleO’Donnell, Rachel, Douglas Eadie, Martine Stead, Ruaraidh Dobson, and Sean Semple. 2021. "‘I Was Smoking a Lot More during Lockdown Because I Can’: A Qualitative Study of How UK Smokers Responded to the Covid-19 Lockdown" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 18, no. 11: 5816. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18115816