High parental education a risk factor for teenage e-cigarette use in Ireland

Abstract

Smoking is higher among lower social-economic groups (SES). Parental educational attainment, as a proxy for SES, has been found to be inversely associated with teenage substance use, with lower parental education associated with higher risk of substance use, including smoking. In Ireland, repeated multivariable analyses have not established a link between parental education and smoking. This study examined parental educational attainment and teenage smoking and e-cigarette use. A nationally stratified random sample of 50 schools in Ireland was surveyed in 2019, part of the European School Survey Project on Alcohol and other Drugs (ESPAD), with 3,495 students aged 15, 16, and 17. Multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed using Stata version 16. In Ireland, teenage e-cigarette ever-use increased from 23% (2015) to 37% (2019) and current use from 10% (2015) to 18% (2019). Both teenage e-cigarette ever-users and current users were more likely to have higher-educated parents. Children of university-educated mothers had significantly higher odds of e-cigarette ever-use (AOR=3.46; 95% CI:1.40–8.54) while children of university-educated parents had significantly higher odds of e-cigarette current use (maternal higher education: AOR=27.54, 95% CI:1.50–505.77, paternal higher education: AOR=2.44, 95% CI:1.00–5.91). Unlike cigarette smoking, higher parental education is not a protective factor for e-cigarette use. Rather, children of higher-educated are more likely to be e-cigarette users. Ireland has a high proportion of younger university-educated parents who may benefit from targeted health education interventions about e-cigarette use and teenager health and smoking.