Associations of Subjective Social Status and Mindfulness on Readiness to Quit Smoking in Homeless Smokers

In the United States, the prevalence of smoking among adults who are homeless is ~75%, about 5 times higher than the general adult population of the United States. It is important to identify characteristics associated with increased desire to quit smoking for intervention development and targeting. Factors associated with an increased desire to quit smoking among domiciled smokers include greater Subjective Social Status (SSS; relative ranking socially within a self-defined community) and mindfulness (awareness and connection with the present moment). However, it is unknown if these patterns generalize to homeless smokers. The current study redressed this gap in a sample of homeless adult smokers from Dallas, TX (N=161; 74.53% male). Results indicated that SSS was each independently predictive of desire to quit (ps<.01), but neither mindfulness nor the interaction between them significant. Results indicate that targeting individuals with higher SSS for cessation services within limited service settings (e.g., shelters) may be advisable. Moreover, results hint that interventions to increase community social standing may increase a desire to quit among homeless adults, but definitive conclusions await future study. Unlike findings with domiciled adults, neither mindfulness nor the combination of low SSS and low mindfulness resulted in particularly low desire to quit relative to low SSS.