Abstract
BackgroundThe use of electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS), also known as vaping, is becoming popular among young adults. Few studies have explored the psychological factors that predict ENDS use and susceptibility in young adults, in addition to known demographic predictors.MethodIn a cross-sectional survey design, 521 young adults (37% male), ages 18–25 from the United States, were recruited via Amazon’s Mechanical Turk (MTurk) in 2019, to answer an online survey measuring demographic characteristics and psychological characteristics related to mental health and the Big Five personality traits. The survey also included measures of ENDS ever-use, current use, and susceptibility (never users open to trying ENDS), which we predicted from the demographic and psychological measures using independent and multiple binary logistic regression analyses.ResultsOf those surveyed (n = 521), 282 (54.1%) were ENDS ever-users, 93 (17.9%) were current ENDS users, and 61 (11.7%) were ENDS susceptible; 62 (11.9%) were current smokers. Demographically, young adults lower in adulthood socioeconomic-status (SES), not pursuing education further than high school, and current smokers were more likely to be ENDS users. Psychologically, young adults higher in anxiety and lower in conscientiousness more likely to have ever-used ENDS. Lower conscientiousness further predicted current ENDS use and ENDS susceptibility.ConclusionIn this sample of MTurk workers, young adults with experience in vaping were more demographically and psychologically vulnerable than young adults with no experience in vaping. Young adults interested in vaping, but without prior experience, were less conscientious than their non-interested peers. Interventions to target vaping use should focus on economically disadvantaged young adults and those lower in conscientiousness.
Highlights
The use of electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS), known colloquially as ‘vaping’ or e-cigarette use, continues to grow in popularity, among young adults aged 18–25 (McMillen et al, 2014; Mirbolouk et al, 2018)
Participants came from a range of backgrounds, with varying SES; there was a mix of students (44%) and non-students (56%), with the majority engaging in tertiary education beyond the high school level (79%)
Two additional factors significantly decreased the likelihood of ENDS current use: being in further tertiary education, and having completed tertiary education. These findings suggest that smokers with more current socioeconomic disadvantage are more likely to be ever-users of ENDS, and those with more current socioeconomic disadvantage or who have not pursued higher education were more likely to be current users of ENDS
Summary
The use of electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS), known colloquially as ‘vaping’ or e-cigarette use, continues to grow in popularity, among young adults aged 18–25 (McMillen et al, 2014; Mirbolouk et al, 2018). Predicting Vaping in Young Adults growing concerns over increases in nicotine dependency for smokers who use ENDS, and for non-smokers developing nicotine addictions, it is timely to explore the factors associated with young adults’ ENDS use. We investigated the psychological and demographic factors in the same sample, to better understand the predictors of young adults’ ENDS use. The use of electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS), known as vaping, is becoming popular among young adults. Few studies have explored the psychological factors that predict ENDS use and susceptibility in young adults, in addition to known demographic predictors
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