Leisure and Risky Health Behaviors: A Review of Evidence About Smoking (Report‪)‬

Introduction Growing interest in the relationship between leisure and health is evident both within and outside the field of leisure studies (Buchner, 2005; Henderson & Bialeschki, 2005; Hyyppa, Maki, Impivaara, & Aromaa, 2006; Mannell & Loucks-Atkinson, 2005; Motl, McAuley, Birnbaum, & Lytle, 2006; Payne, 2002). Research dealing with the role of leisure in mental health including coping with stress and traumatic life events has grown tremendously in the last decade and a half (Iwasaki & Mannell, 2000; Kleiber, Hutchinson & Williams, 2002; Mannell, 2006). More recently leisure researchers also have also begun to make significant contributions to research on physical activity (PA) and healthy living via organizations such as Active Living Research (e.g., Godbey, Caldwell, Floyd, & Payne, 2005; Bedimo-Rung, Mowen, & Cohen, 2005) and The Cooper Institute (e.g., Ainsworth, Mannell, Behrens & Caldwell, 2007). Similarly, these and other health-related conferences and journals often include analyses presented by scientists from outside of leisure studies that nevertheless feature leisure-related variables and contexts prominently within the research (e.g., Saelens et al., 2006; Giles-Corti et al., 2001). However, only limited attention has been given to the impact of leisure on participation in risky health behaviors such as drug and alcohol use and smoking.