Sensation-Seeking as a Moderator of the Effects of Peer Influences, Consistency with Personal Aspirations, and Perceived Harm on Marijuana and Cigarette Use Among Younger Adolescents

BackgroundThe prevalence of e-cigarette use among youth and young adults has increased markedly in recent years; however, little is known about young people’s perceptions of e-cigarette addiction. This study examines factors associated with self-reported addiction to e-cigarette use among this population.MethodsIn 2018, 1048 Canadians aged 16–25 years were recruited through online social media platforms to complete a survey. Quota sampling was used to oversample regular e-cigarette users (vaping at least weekly); these 578 regular users were included in this analysis. Self-perceived addiction was assessed by asking participants if they felt they were ‘very’, ‘somewhat’ or ‘not at all’ addicted to e-cigarettes. A proportional odds model was employed to identify factors associated with the ordinal outcome.ResultsAlmost half of regular users perceived themselves to be ‘not at all addicted’, 41% felt they were ‘somewhat addicted’ and 13% felt they were very addicted to e-cigarettes. Women, former cigarette smokers, daily vapers and those vaping for more than a year were more likely to report higher levels of perceived addiction. Similarly, high sensation-seeking youth, those reading blogs and websites about vaping, those frequently dripping and those using higher nicotine strengths had a greater likelihood of higher perceived addiction than their respective counterparts.ConclusionMore than half of youth and young adult regular e-cigarette users felt they had some level of addiction. The findings identify possible opportunities for targeted programming for education and treatment, as well as potential opportunities for policy change such as maximum allowable nicotine strengths.

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Adolescent Susceptibility to E-Cigarettes: An Update From the 2018 National Youth Tobacco Survey

American Journal of Health Promotion ◽

10.1177/0890117120971121 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 089011712097112

Author(s):

Alayna P. Tackett ◽

Brittney Keller-Hamilton ◽

Emily T. Hébert ◽

Caitlin E. Smith ◽

Samantha W. Wallace ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Secondary Data ◽

Tobacco Product ◽

Cigarette Use ◽

Tobacco Products ◽

Data Analyses ◽

Adolescent Sample ◽

Logistic Regressions ◽

Race Ethnicity ◽

Perceived Harm ◽

Hispanic White

Purpose: Examine correlates of e-cigarette susceptibility among adolescents. Design: Secondary data analyses using the 2018 National Youth Tobacco Survey, excluding participants under 12 and over 17. Setting: United States middle and high schools. Subjects: Never e-cigarette users ( n = 12,439) ages 12-17. Measures: Relationships between e-cigarette susceptibility and age, sex, race/ethnicity, ever tobacco use, perceived ease of purchasing tobacco products, perceived harm, relative addictiveness, household use of e-cigarettes/tobacco were examined. Analysis: Odds of susceptibility were modeled with weighted multivariable logistic regressions. Results: Thirty-five percent (unweighted n = 4,436) of adolescents were susceptible to e-cigarettes. Adolescents who were female (aOR = 1.2), Hispanic (aOR = 1.3), perceived e-cigarettes as anything less than “a lot of harm” (aOR = 2.2-4.9) and “easy” to purchase (aOR = 1.4), had ever used combustible tobacco (aOR = 2.9), or reported household use of e-cigarettes (aOR = 1.5) were susceptible. Non-Hispanic black respondents (vs. non-Hispanic white; aOR = 0.72) had significantly lower odds of susceptibility to e-cigarettes. Conclusion: In the 2018 NYTS adolescent sample, perceptions of harm and ease of tobacco product purchase appear to be significantly related to higher odds of e-cigarette susceptibility, in addition to other demographic factors. Longitudinal data, particularly cohort data following adolescents from susceptible to actual or no use, are needed to assess predictors of e-cigarette use initiation.

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Vaping in the Workplace: Awareness and Support for E-cigarette Workplace Policies

American Journal of Health Behavior ◽

10.5993/ajhb.45.2.8 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 45 (2) ◽

pp. 279-289

Author(s):

Barbara A. Schillo ◽

Megan C. Diaz ◽

Jodie Briggs ◽

Alexa R. Romberg ◽

Basmah Rahman ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Indoor Air ◽

Online Survey ◽

The United States ◽

Policy Support ◽

Cigarette Use ◽

Working Adults ◽

Workplace Policies ◽

Multiple Regression Modeling ◽

Levels Of Support ◽

Perceived Harm

Objectives: Clean indoor air policies have been an important tool protecting the health of working adults. The purpose of this study was to examine awareness of and support for e-cigarette-free workplace policies among working adults in the United States. Methods: Employees of companies with at least 150 employees (N = 1607, ages 18-65 years) were recruited from an opt-in national panel for an online survey. Results: Nearly half of respondents (48.4%) reported that their employer had a written policy addressing e-cigarette use, 30.2% reported their employer did not have such a policy, and 21.4% reported that they did not know. Most respondents (73.5%) supported e-cigarette-free workplaces, including the majority of current e-cigarette users (53.5%). Multiple regression modeling found that odds of support for e-cigarette workplace policies was significantly higher among never (OR = 1.77, 95% CI: 1.19-2.64) and former e-cigarette users (OR = 1.71, 95% CI: 1.15-2.54) relative to current users. Policy support also varied by perceived harm and other perceptions of workplace vaping, and demographic and workplace characteristics. Conclusions: E-cigarette-free workplace policies have high levels of support among employees, including both current and former e-cigarette users. Policies restricting workplace vaping can improve the health of all employees.

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Awareness and use of electronic cigarettes: Perceptions of health science programme students in Malaysia

Health Education Journal ◽

10.1177/0017896917732363 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 76 (8) ◽

pp. 1000-1008 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Yin Hoong Goh ◽

Juman Abdulelah Dujaili ◽

Ali Qais Blebil ◽

Syed Imran Ahmed

Keyword(s):

Young Adults ◽

Sensation Seeking ◽

Electronic Cigarettes ◽

Health Science ◽

International Medical ◽

Cigarette Use ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Behavioural Characteristics ◽

Medical University ◽

The Impact

Objectives: In recent years, electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) or e-cigarettes appear to be gaining in popularity despite controversy over their health effects and public health impacts. This paper is the first in Malaysia to assess sociodemographic and behavioural characteristics associated with ENDS awareness, perceptions and use among students enrolled in health science programmes. Design: Online self-reported use and perceptions of ENDS were assessed using a cross-sectional design. Setting: The study was conducted at the International Medical University, Malaysia. Method: An anonymous Internet-based, cross-sectional survey was conducted among a cohort of 404 undergraduate students at International Medical University, Malaysia, in September 2016. Data were collected over a period of 6 weeks. A 31-question web-based survey was developed to assess sociodemographic and behavioural characteristics associated with ENDS awareness, perceptions and use. Logistic regression analysis was performed to assess the impact of a set of predictors on e-cigarette use. Results: Almost 95% of respondents were aware of e-cigarettes, 13.8% reported ever-use and students had varied perceptions towards e-cigarettes. Characteristics associated with greater likelihood of ever-use included gender, ethnicity and parents educational level. Other correlates included prior conventional cigarette smoking, prior hookah smoking, parents’ tobacco use and higher sensation-seeking behaviour total score. Conclusion: In this sample of young adults, e-cigarette awareness was high and ever-use was evident especially among ever cigarette smokers. Nearly half of ever-users had not used an e-cigarette in the past 30 days of the survey and mostly reported flavoured over unflavoured e-cigarette use. These findings highlight the importance of e-cigarette surveillance and health promotion interventions targeting young adults.

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