Association between heaviness of cigarette smoking and serious psychological distress is stronger in women than in men: a nationally representative cross-sectional survey in Japan

Background Higher smoking prevalence in people with serious psychological distress (SPD) is well-recognized. However, gender and age differences in the association between heaviness of cigarette smoking and SPD have not been fully investigated. Methods We used anonymized data from a nationally representative survey in Japan (33,925 men and 37,257 women). SPD was measured using the Kessler 6-item Psychological Distress Scale and defined as ≥ 13...