The report compiles research and data from dozens of scientists around the country, including Edwin B. Fisher, Ph.D., professor of medicine, psychology and pediatrics and director of the Division of Health Behavior Research at the School of Medicine. Fisher wrote a section of the report on challenges involved in getting women to quit smoking. Combining his own research in smoking cessation with that of others around the country, Fisher wrote that social context is both an aid and an imped-iment to women who want to stop smoking. There is an established link between quitting smoking and gaining weight. That is an important factor in a woman's decision to continue smoking, and in the same vein, research has found that adolescent women are much more likely to start smoking with the idea of making themselves attractive to men than vice versa.
Women appear to have some advantages and disadvantages in quitting smoking.
They appear to be especially able to take advantage of social support when facing challenges such as quitting smoking, so support groups and therapy can be advantageous. On the other hand, traditional roles for women that may, out of concern for the needs of others, discourage them from acting on their own behalf can make it harder for some women to assert their own needs when trying to quit. The Siteman Cancer Center refers women and men to resources that may help them quit smoking.