Neighborhood vigilance, health locus of control, and smoking abstinence

Objectives: To examine whether health locus of control mediated relations of self-reported neighborhood vigilance and biochemically verified, continuous short-term smoking abstinence among 200 smokers enrolled in a cohort study. Methods: A nonparametric bootstrapping procedure was used to assess mediation. Results: Health locus of control-chance mediated relations between neighborhood vigilance and smoking abstinence in analyses adjusted for sociodemographics and tobacco dependence (p < .05). Greater vigilance was associated with greater attributions that health was affected by chance, which was associated with a lower likelihood of smoking abstinence. Conclusions: Results suggest that neighborhood perceptions influence residents' attributions for health outcomes, which can affect smoking abstinence.