ArticleSocial science research2018
Today's decisions, Tomorrow's outcomes: Does self-control explain the educational smoking gradient?
Article in Social science research, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed.
- Cardiometabolic Index and Stress Urinary Incontinence in US Women: The Mediating Role of the Triglyceride Glucose Index.International urogynecology journal · 2025Article
- Time Perspective and BMI: The Mediating Roles of Self-Control and Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Consumption.Risk management and healthcare policy · 2025Article
- Prevalence and Factors Influencing Smoking Behavior among Female Inmates in Malaysia.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Training Willpower: Reducing Costs and Valuing Effort.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2022Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
1 author.
Funding
Abstract
People with more education tend to have relatively healthy lifestyles. Among other things, they smoke less than those with less education. This link between education and smoking (known as the "educational gradient") is frequently interpreted as causal: many researchers argue that education develops skills, habits, and preferences that discourage smoking and other unhealthy behaviors. However, an alternative possibility is that these skills, habits, and preferences develop early in life and determine the likelihood of both attaining a high level of education and avoiding smoking. I test the latter possibility using data from the Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health). In particular, I assess the degree to which indicators of self-control in adolescence explain the association between educational attainment and smoking in adulthood. Results from a series of regression-based tests indicate that self-control is a significant predictor of both outcomes, even when controlling for a host of other risk factors. However, it does not appear to explain the educational gradient.
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.