Does having one or more smoking friends mediate the transition from e-cigarette use to cigarette smoking: a longitudinal study of Canadian youth.

Introduction:
This text is a summary of a research study examining the relationship between e-cigarette use and smoking onset among Canadian youth. The study aims to investigate the potential mediating role of having smoking friends in this relationship.

Key Points:

* The study uses data from three waves of the COMPASS study, a prospective cohort study designed to follow a sample of grade 9-12 students in Canadian secondary schools.
* The sample consisted of students attending schools in Ontario and Alberta who participated in waves 1 to 3, and students who reported ever having smoked a cigarette at wave 1 were excluded from the sample.
* The study measures past 30-day e-cigarette use, past 30-day cigarette smoking, past 30-day dual use, smoking friends, demographic covariates, and behavioral covariates such as past 30-day cannabis use and past 30-day binge drinking.
* The study uses multi-level logistic regression models to investigate whether having smoking friends at wave 2 mediates the association between past 30-day e-cigarette use at wave 1 and past 30-day cigarette smoking at wave 3 and past 30-day dual use at wave 3.
* The study found that past 30-day e-cigarette use significantly predicted past 30-day cigarette smoking and dual use at wave 3, but having smoking friends did not mediate this association.
* Post hoc tests showed that having smoking friends was a confounding factor in the association between e-cigarette use and subsequent smoking uptake.
* The study suggests that prevention efforts should consider how best to incorporate effective programming to address social influences in the e-cigarette use-smoking pathway.

Main Message:
The study did not find evidence to support the idea that having smoking friends mediates the relationship between e-cigarette use and smoking onset among Canadian youth. However, the study did find that having smoking friends was a confounding factor in this relationship, suggesting that prevention efforts should consider how best to address social influences in the e-cigarette use-smoking pathway. Overall, the study highlights the need for further research in this area to inform effective prevention strategies.

Aleyan S, Ferro MA, Hitchman SC, Leatherdale ST. Does having one or more smoking friends mediate the transition from e-cigarette use to cigarette smoking: a longitudinal study of Canadian youth. Cancer causes & control : CCC. 2021;32(1):67-74. doi:10.1007/s10552-020-01358-1