College Students' Reasons for Using JUULs.

Abstract

To identify reasons that college students use JUUL and explore associations between reasons for using JUUL and social and behavioral (tobacco use) factors. On-line, cross-sectional survey. Large southwestern university in the US. Undergraduate students (n = 605) who owned JUUL and used it weekly. The study measured age of JUUL initiation, JUUL dependence, and use of other e-cigarettes and other tobacco products. Participants described reasons for JUUL use as brief open-ended responses. Responses were categorized by 2 researchers using an inductive procedure. Logistic regressions examined associations between demographics and use frequency and categorized reasons for using JUUL. Four reasons for using JUUL emerged: self-help (48.4%), social (30.4%), experience (42.8%), and substance use/addiction (42.3%). Daily JUUL users were 1.66 (95% CI: 1.05-2.63) times as likely to use JUUL for self-help than those who used JUUL 1-3 days/week. Those who had never tried a cigarette were twice (OR = 2.08; 95% CI: 1.22-3.54) as likely as cigarette-first users to use JUUL for social reasons. Males (OR = 1.87; 95% CI: 1.32-2.65) had higher odds of using JUUL for the experience than females, and JUUL and other e-cigarettes users were 4.37 (95% CI: 1.83-10.45) times as likely as JUUL-only users to use JUUL due to substance use/addiction. JUUL users report unique reasons for use (e.g., addiction) not previously reported for older models of e-cigarette devices.