"It's Really Addictive and I'm Trapped:" A Qualitative Analysis of the Reasons for Quitting Vaping a
Saturday, June 19, 2021
Posted by: Natalia Gromov
Amato
MS, Bottcher MM, Cha S, Jacobs MA, Pearson JL, Graham AL.
"It's Really
Addictive and I'm Trapped:" A Qualitative Analysis of the Reasons for
Quitting Vaping among Treatment-seeking Young People.
Addict Behav. 2021 Jan;112:106599. doi: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2020.106599. Epub 2020
Aug 3. PMID: 32950927.
Background.
Debate continues over how e-cigarettes have impacted the health of young people,
and what regulatory policies should be enacted. The debate has appropriately
been informed by quantitative studies, often focused on initiation, prevalence,
and product transition among the general population and demographic segments.
Factors driving cessation and subjective experiences that motivate young users
to quit have been largely absent from the debate. This qualitative study
highlights the range of motivating experiences among a population of
treatment-seeking young e-cigarette users.
Methods.
Three researchers coded reasons for quitting provided by a sample of n = 1000
youth (13-17) and n = 1000 young adults (18-24) enrolled in a text message
cessation program. Data spanned January 18 - February 22, 2019. Codes were
adapted from previous literature.
Results.
The most common reasons were health (50.9%; "I want my lungs back"),
financial cost (21.7%; "I don't have enough money to feed my
addiction"), freedom from addiction (16.0%; "i hate juuling. it's
taking over my life"), and social influence (10.1%; "it's affecting
my friendships"). Selected quotes highlight a broad range of additional
ways in which e-cigarette use negatively impacted young people, including
decreased academic performance and mental health.
Conclusions.
Young people trying to quit e-cigarettes are motivated by a diversity of
reasons including health, financial, social, and academic. The range of impacts
should be considered in discussions of policies intended to protect young
people, and incorporated into cessation programs designed to serve them.
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