Family influences on the use of e-cigarettes

Abstract

ABSTRACTE-cigarette use among adolescents continues to rise. However, little research has examined factors that influence adolescent e-cigarette use. The goal of the current study was to better understand family influences (i.e., perceptions of parental attitudes and sibling use) of e-cigarette use and determine how these influences on e-cigarette use compared to their influence on other substances (i.e., alcohol, traditional tobacco, and marijuana). A sample of 279 9th to 12th graders completed surveys, and results indicated that adolescents perceive that their parents feel that e-cigarettes are less wrong than traditional tobacco use and similarly wrong to marijuana use. Siblings used traditional tobacco at a higher rate than e-cigarettes and marijuana, which siblings have used at similar rates. Alcohol was perceived to be the substance that parents felt was least wrong to use and the most used substance by siblings. Perceptions of parental attitudes toward substances were related to adolescent use of all substances. Sibling use was positively associated with traditional tobacco, e-cigarette, and marijuana use, but not alcohol use. Thus, it appears that adolescent e-cigarette use is influenced by both parental attitudes and sibling use.