Adolescent Males' Awareness of and Willingness to Try Electronic Cigarettes

doi:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2012.09.014

Journal of Adolescent Health

Volume 52, Issue 2, February 2013, Pages 144-150

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2012.09.014 Get rights and content

Abstract

Purpose

Electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) are a new type of device that delivers vaporized nicotine without the tobacco combustion of regular cigarettes. We sought to understand awareness of and willingness to try e-cigarettes among adolescent males, a group that is at risk for smoking initiation and may use e-cigarettes as a “gateway” to smoking.

Methods

A national sample of 11–19-year-old males (n = 228) completed an online survey in November 2011. We recruited participants through their parents, who were members of a panel of U.S. households constructed using random-digit dialing and addressed-based sampling.

Results

Only two participants (< 1%) had previously tried e-cigarettes. Among those who had not tried e-cigarettes, most (67%) had heard of them. Awareness was higher among older and non-Hispanic adolescents. Nearly 1 in 5 (18%) participants were willing to try either a plain or flavored e-cigarette, but willingness to try plain versus flavored varieties did not differ. Smokers were more willing to try any e-cigarette than nonsmokers (74% vs. 13%; OR 10.25, 95% CI 2.88, 36.46). Nonsmokers who had more negative beliefs about the typical smoker were less willing to try e-cigarettes (OR .58, 95% CI .43, .79).

Conclusions

Most adolescent males were aware of e-cigarettes, and a substantial minority were willing to try them. Given that even experimentation with e-cigarettes could lead to nicotine dependence and subsequent use of other tobacco products, regulatory and behavioral interventions are needed to prevent “gateway” use by adolescent nonsmokers. Campaigns promoting negative images of smokers or FDA bans on sales to youth may help deter use.

Section snippets

Participants

Parents and their adolescent sons participated in an online, two-wave survey on adolescent health described in detail by Reiter et al [18]. In brief, a survey company constructed a national panel of U.S. households by using probability sampling, a combination of list-assisted, random-digit dialing and address-based sampling to reach cell phone-only households [19]. The survey company then randomly sampled panel members who were parents with sons ages 11–17 years. In August and September 2010,

Participants

Adolescents' mean age was 15.1 years (Table 1 ). Most were nonsmokers (91%), white (80%), and lived in urban areas (84%). About half of parents reported a household income of less than $60,000 (48%). Most parents had never or rarely smoked (43%) or were former smokers (41%).

Use of e-cigarettes

Only 2 of 228 adolescents (< 1%) had previously tried an e-cigarette. Both of these participants also smoked regular cigarettes. We excluded these two adolescents from subsequent analyses.

Awareness of e-cigarettes

The majority of adolescents (67%)

Discussion

Although few adolescent males in our national sample had tried e-cigarettes, around two-thirds were aware of them. This figure is much higher than expected, given that only 32% of adults in a national sample were aware of e-cigarettes as of 2010 [5]. The high rate of awareness in our sample may reflect the increasing popularity of and media attention given to the product [5], [7], [8] or to the rise in e-cigarette promotion in the past 2 years [6], [16]. For example, e-cigarettes are advertised

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: Funding: Support for this study was provided by the American Cancer Society (MSRG-06-259-01-CPPB), the Cancer Control Education Program at UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center (R25 CA57726), the National Institutes of Health (P50CA105632 and P30CA016058), and a NRSA in Primary Medical Care at the University of Minnesota (T32HP22239).

: Conflicts of interest: None.

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Original articleAdolescent Males' Awareness of and Willingness to Try Electronic Cigarettes

Abstract

Purpose

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Section snippets

Participants

Participants

Use of e-cigarettes

Awareness of e-cigarettes

Discussion

Safety report on the Ruyan e-cigarette cartridge and inhaled aerosol

Electronic nicotine delivery systems: Adult use and awareness of the 'e-cigarette' in the USA

Tob Control

Tracking the rise in popularity of electronic nicotine delivery systems (electronic cigarettes) using search query surveillance

Am J Prev Med

A tool to quit smoking has some unlikely critics

E-cigarettes: Can they help you quit?

Electronic cigarette: users profile, utilization, satisfaction and perceived efficacy

Addiction

Electronic cigarettes: A survey of users

BMC Public Health

Electronic cigarettes (e-cigs): Views of aficionados and clinical/public health perspectives

Int J Clin Pract

Nicotine control: E-cigarettes, smoking and addiction

Int J Drug Policy

Electronic cigarettes as a method of tobacco control

BMJ

Novel nicotine delivery systems and public health: The rise of the "e-cigarette."

Am J Public Health

E-cigarettes: Promise or peril?

Nurs Clin N Am

Original article
Adolescent Males' Awareness of and Willingness to Try Electronic Cigarettes