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High rates of tobacco smoking among patients with psychosis have often been attributed to strategies of self-medication with nicotine to lower negative symptoms. However, some research suggests bidirectional influences, wherein heavy smoking might also contribute to vulnerabilities, akin to well-publicized deleterious associations of marijuana with psychosis. Investigators examined whether tobacco smoking at age 15 might represent an independent risk factor for psychosis by age 30 in 9215 children born in two Finnish provinces in 1985–1986 (98% of all births).
About 66% of the group responded to postal questionnaires and field studies and did not have psychosis at study entry. At ages 15–16, 745 (12%) were daily smokers. National registries …