The Effects of E-Cigarette Use on Alcohol and Marijuana Abuse Symptoms in an Ethnically Diverse Sample of Young Adults

Pallav Pokhrel, Taha Elwir, Hannah Mettias, Crissy T. Kawamoto, Nabin Oli and Scott K. Okamoto
Additional contact information
Pallav Pokhrel: Population Sciences in the Pacific Program, University of Hawai‘i Cancer Center, University of Hawaii at Manoa, 701 Ilalo St., Honolulu, HI 96813, USA
Taha Elwir: Population Sciences in the Pacific Program, University of Hawai‘i Cancer Center, University of Hawaii at Manoa, 701 Ilalo St., Honolulu, HI 96813, USA
Hannah Mettias: John A. Burns School of Medicine, University of Hawai‘i at Manoa, 651 Ilalo St., Honolulu, HI 96813, USA
Crissy T. Kawamoto: Population Sciences in the Pacific Program, University of Hawai‘i Cancer Center, University of Hawaii at Manoa, 701 Ilalo St., Honolulu, HI 96813, USA
Nabin Oli: Kokua Kalihi Valley Comprehensive Family Services, 2239 N School St., Honolulu, HI 96819, USA
Scott K. Okamoto: Population Sciences in the Pacific Program, University of Hawai‘i Cancer Center, University of Hawaii at Manoa, 701 Ilalo St., Honolulu, HI 96813, USA

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 24, 1-12

Abstract: Background: We examined e-cigarette use as a prospective predictor of alcohol and marijuana abuse symptoms in a sample consisting of Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander (NHPI), Filipino, Asian (i.e., Japanese, Chinese, Korean), and White young adults. NHPI represent a highly vulnerable group with regard to substance use and are severely understudied. Methods: Data were collected from 1463 young adults (M age = 22.2, SD = 3.2; 59.5% women) enrolled across community colleges in Hawai‘i at two time-points six months apart. Results: Higher frequency of e-cigarette use at baseline was predictive of higher alcohol (B = 0.06, SE = 0.02, p < 0.01) and marijuana (B = 0.06, SE = 0.02, p < 0.01) use problems at six-month follow up, adjusting for baseline cigarette smoking, problem alcohol/marijuana use, sensation seeking, and demographic variables. Ethnicity was found to significantly moderate the relationship between baseline e-cigarette use and problem marijuana use later, such that White and NHPI ethnicities were particularly vulnerable to the effects of e-cigarette use on problem marijuana use. Conclusion: NHPI are often combined with Asians in national surveys, which obfuscates the higher risks faced by NHPI compared with groups that are routinely classified as Asians (e.g., Chinese, Japanese, Filipinos). The current research highlights the NHPI’s vulnerability in terms of the effects of e-cigarette use on marijuana and alcohol abuse symptoms.

Keywords: e-cigarette; cigarette; alcohol; marijuana; Asian; Pacific Islander; substance abuse (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/24/13159/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/24/13159/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:24:p:13159-:d:701785

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().