Open Access

ARTICLE

Net Effect of Short-Term Smoking Cessation on Mental Health Changes: Inverse Probability of Treatment Weighting and Difference-in-Differences Method

Ji-Su Park¹, Tae-Hyeon Lee², Il-Su Park^3,*

1 Busan Eastern Branch of Korea Association of Health Promotion, Busan, 47734, Republic of Korea
2 Department of Biomedical Health Science, Graduate School, Dong-Eui University, Busan, 47340, Republic of Korea
3 Department of Healthcare Management, Dong-Eui University, Busan, 47340, Republic of Korea

* Corresponding Author: Il-Su Park. Email:

International Journal of Mental Health Promotion 2024, 26(9), 745-755. https://doi.org/10.32604/ijmhp.2024.054630

Received 03 June 2024; Accepted 12 August 2024; Issue published 20 September 2024

Abstract

Background: In response to the need for research clearly demonstrating the net effect of smoking cessation on mental health status, considering the causal relationship between smoking cessation and changes in mental health status, this study was undertaken. Thus, this study aimed to examine the net effect of short-term smoking cessation on five specific mental health metrics and the overall mental health status score. Methods: We used data from the first wave of the Korean Health Panel (KHP) Survey (2011–2013, 2016–2018) and focused on men aged 19 years and older, to explore the effects of smoking cessation. We compared mental health status before and after cessation among current non-smokers who had quit smoking and continuous smokers. We ensured homogeneity between the two groups via inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW) and employed a difference-in-differences (DID) analysis to assess changes in mental health status. This study controlled for factors that could influence mental health and explored the net effect of short-term smoking cessation through difference-in-differences model using multiple regression analysis. Results: The results showed that short-term smoking cessation significantly alleviated mental and physical stress (p < 0.1), reduced experiences of frustration (p < 0.01), and improved the overall mental health status score (p < 0.1). Conclusion: Thus, these results highlight a meaningful link between positive health behavior changes, such as smoking cessation, and enhanced mental health. Moreover, the application of temporal variables further improved the understanding of the causal relationship between health behaviors and mental health.

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