Ethnic Differences in Patterns of Cigarette and E-Cigarette Use Over Time Among Adolescents

Introduction:
This text is a summary of an original research article published in the Journal of Adolescent Health that examines patterns of cigarette and e-cigarette use among adolescents over time and how these patterns differ by ethnicity. The study uses data from three prospective cohort studies of adolescents in California and Connecticut. The key points of the study include the following:

* The study found a significant global interaction for the association of baseline tobacco use with follow-up tobacco use by ethnicity (p = .009).
* Among non-Hispanic white (NHW) participants, ever e-cigarette or cigarette users at baseline had significantly higher odds of every past 30-day use tobacco use pattern at follow-up.
* Among Hispanic white (HW) participants, compared with never users, exclusive e-cigarette users at baseline had increased odds of continued e-cigarette use (ORexciusive e-cigarettes = 5.22; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 3.50, 7.79) but not of transition to exclusive cigarette use at follow-up (ORexclusive cigarettes= 1.27; 95% Cl: .47, 3.46).
* HW exclusive cigarette users at baseline had greater odds of continued cigarette use (ORexciusive cigarettes = 12.3; 95% Cl: 5.87, 25.8) but not of transition to exclusive e-cigarette use at follow-up (ORexclusive cigarettes = 1.61; 95% Cl: .62, 4.18).
* The results suggest a potential for differential impacts of e-cigarettes, by ethnicity, in increasing subsequent transition to or cessation from cigarette smoking.

Main message:
The study highlights the importance of considering ethnicity when examining patterns of cigarette and e-cigarette use among adolescents. The findings suggest that e-cigarettes may have different impacts on smoking behaviors among NHW and HW youth. Specifically, the results suggest that NHW youth are more likely to transition between different tobacco use patterns, while HW youth are more likely to have stable use patterns. These differential impacts may have implications for tobacco control policies and interventions aimed at preventing and reducing tobacco use among adolescents. The study underscores the need for further research to understand the underlying mechanisms driving these ethnic differences in tobacco use patterns and to inform the development of tailored prevention and cessation strategies.

Barrington-Trimis, Jessica L., Mariel S. Bello, Fei Liu, Adam M. Leventhal, Grace Kong, Margaret Mayer, Tess Boley Cruz, Suchitra Krishnan-Sarin, and Rob McConnell. “Ethnic Differences in Patterns of Cigarette and E-Cigarette Use Over Time Among Adolescents.” Journal of Adolescent Health 65, no. 3 (September 2019): 359–65. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2019.04.002.