Thursday, April 25, 2024
4/25/2024
PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT Youth are using electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) at a rapidly increasing rate [1, 2]. Unfortunately, there is a lack of scientific knowledge regarding why e-cigarettes are appealing to youth, the effects of e- cigarette use, and how e-cigarette marketing is influencing adolescents' beliefs, intentions, and willingness to use these novel tobacco products. Since e-cigarettes are unregulated, a generation of adolescents who have never seen cigarettes being widely promoted are currently being exposed to e-cigarette marketing across a wide variety of mediums. As the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) moves to regulate e-cigarettes, critical gaps in the research literature regarding the impact of e-cigarette marketing, access to products, and initiation and use are hindering policy makers. Study aims are to: (1) Examine prevalence of lifetime use and patterns of current use of e-cigarettes among middle school students (ages 11-14) across a school year; (2) Assess concurrent and prospective factors related to initiation and use of e-cigarettes among middle school students, including perceptions of risk, social images of users, motives for using, intentions and willingness to use, access to products, and exposure to marketing; and (3) Explore associations between e-cigarette initiation and co-use or willingness and intentions to use other tobacco products as well as symptoms of dependence on nicotine as a result of using e-cigarettes. Additional factors shown to be related to adolescent tobacco use, such as race/ethnicity and level of acculturation, will also be considered in order to provide a comparison between e-cigarettes and traditional tobacco products. To accomplish our aims, we will conduct two longitudinal school-based surveys across a school year (Fall and Spring) in two middle schools (N = 1,150; half Hispanic). Based on information obtained in the school surveys, we will select a subsample of e-cigarette users (N = 60) for in-depth interviews, to gather additional information on the contexts surrounding e-cigarette use, to obtain sequential details of co-use with other tobacco products, and to delve more deeply into the appeal and motivations to use e-cigarettes in this population. This project will directly contribute to the currently sparse body of research on e-cigarettes and youth, guide future e-cigarette regulation by the FDA, and provide information that can assist in the development of counter-marketing strategies targeting youth as well as strategies to limit minors' access to e-cigarettes. It will also contribute to models of adolescent risk taking and novel tobacco use.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).
