Adolescents and Young Adults Who Vape or are Susceptible to Vaping: Characteristics, Product Prefere
Thursday, July 15, 2021
Posted by: Natalia Gromov
Rohde
JA, Vereen RN, Noar SM.
Adolescents and Young
Adults Who Vape or are Susceptible to Vaping: Characteristics, Product
Preferences, and Beliefs.
Subst Use Misuse. 2021 Jul 7:1-9. doi: 10.1080/10826084.2021.1942052. Epub
ahead of print. PMID: 34233573.
This study examined differences among current vapers, those susceptible to
vaping, and those non-susceptible to vaping among adolescents and young adults
(AYAs) in the U.S. We sought to understand vaping-related characteristics,
preferences, and beliefs across these populations to inform prevention efforts.
Methods: Participants were N=543 adolescents and N=557 young adults recruited
in mid-2019 in the U.S. In two separate cross-sectional surveys, we assessed
vaping preferences, tobacco product use, and both health harm and addiction
risk beliefs about vaping. We ran separate multivariate logistic regressions to
assess differences in risk beliefs across the three distinct e-cigarette groups
among AYAs. Results: A majority of AYAs were either current vapers
(adolescents: 32%, young adults: 36%) or susceptible to vaping (adolescents:
34%, young adults: 24%). In both samples, pod-based devices were the most
common device type used, and fruit and mint/menthol were the most commonly used
flavors. In multivariate analyses, adolescent (p<.05) and young adult
(p<.05) current vapers both had lower risk beliefs about the health harms of
vaping compared to those susceptible to vaping. Susceptible adolescents also
had lower health harm risk beliefs compared to those who were non-susceptible
(p<.05). Addiction risk beliefs seldom predicted use or susceptibility in
multivariate analyses, with only susceptible young adults having lower
addiction beliefs than those non-susceptible (p<.05). Conclusion: Results from
this study highlight the role of health harm risk beliefs among AYA vapers and
those susceptible to vaping. Prevention efforts should examine the most potent
ways to communicate vaping health harms to discourage AYA vaping.
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