Reasons for Vaping Among U.S. 12th Graders

Introduction: This text is a summary of a scientific study on vaping among U.S. 12th graders. It includes the study design, key findings, and the main message of the research.

Key points:

* The study used data from the Monitoring the Future (MTF) survey, a nationally representative sample of 12th grade students in public and private schools across the contiguous United States.
* The study identified subgroups of adolescents based on their self-reported reasons for vaping using latent class analysis.
* Three distinct classes of vapers were identified: adolescents who vape to experiment, vape to replace cigarettes, and vape for taste and entertainment.
* The study found that vaping only flavors was associated with lower odds of membership in the vaping to replace cigarettes subgroup, and cigarette use was associated with higher odds of membership in the same subgroup.
* Marijuana was associated with lower odds of membership in the vaping to experiment subgroup.
* The study shows that there are considerable differences in primary reasons for vaping and risk for traditional cigarette and other substance use, suggesting different intervention strategies may be needed for different subgroups of vapers.

Main message: The study identifies patterns of why adolescents vape and how these reasons relate to cigarette smoking and other substance use. A minority of adolescents vape for cigarette-related reasons, consuming nicotine through multiple mechanisms. Adolescents who vape to experiment have lower risks, but may be at risk for escalation of vaping or other substance use. The prevalence of vaping among adolescents has skyrocketed over the past five years, and understanding why adolescents are vaping is an important research endeavor given the potentially harmful consequences of vaping for youth, such as escalation to cigarette smoking. Interventions addressing higher-risk reasons for vaping as well as their other risk behaviors may be best suited to a higher-risk subgroup of vapers, whereas this type of intervention would be ill-suited for those who vape primarily for experimentation and may not be using other substances.

Evans-Polce, Rebecca J. “Reasons for Vaping Among U.S. 12th Graders.” Journal of Adolescent Health 62 (2018).