Predictors of Discontinued E-Cigarette Use at One-Year Follow-Up in a Sample of Young Adults

Pallav Pokhrel (), Crissy T. Kawamoto, Hannah Mettias, Taha Elwir and Thaddeus Herzog
Additional contact information
Pallav Pokhrel: Population Sciences in the Pacific Program, University of Hawai‘i Cancer Center, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, 701 Ilalo St., Honolulu, HI 96813, USA
Crissy T. Kawamoto: Population Sciences in the Pacific Program, University of Hawai‘i Cancer Center, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, 701 Ilalo St., Honolulu, HI 96813, USA
Hannah Mettias: Population Sciences in the Pacific Program, University of Hawai‘i Cancer Center, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, 701 Ilalo St., Honolulu, HI 96813, USA
Taha Elwir: Population Sciences in the Pacific Program, University of Hawai‘i Cancer Center, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, 701 Ilalo St., Honolulu, HI 96813, USA
Thaddeus Herzog: Population Sciences in the Pacific Program, University of Hawai‘i Cancer Center, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, 701 Ilalo St., Honolulu, HI 96813, USA

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 6, 1-12

Abstract: Background: Currently, the research on factors associated with young adults’ discontinuation of e-cigarette use behavior is limited. This study tested the predictors of self-reported e-cigarette abstinence at one-year follow-up among young adult baseline current e-cigarette users. The following variables were tested as predictors: demographics, cigarette smoking, e-cigarette use dependence, e-cigarette use duration, harm perceptions, and preferred aspects of e-cigarette use, including sensations, flavor, and device characteristics. Methods: Data were provided at two time-points one year apart by 435 ethnically diverse young adults (M age = 22.3, SD = 3.1; 63% women) who reported current e-cigarette use at baseline. Results: Approximately 42% of those who reported current e-cigarette use at baseline (i.e., 184 out of 435 participants) reported discontinuation of e-cigarette use at one-year follow-up. Results indicated that higher e-cigarette dependence, longer history of e-cigarette use, lower e-cigarette harm perceptions, greater preference for both menthol and sweet flavors, for open-pod-based devices, and for e-cigarette use sensations such as buzz, taste and smell of flavors, and throat hit at baseline were associated with lower likelihood of e-cigarette use discontinuation at one-year follow-up. Conclusions: Characteristics associated with nicotine (e.g., dependence) and flavors (e.g., taste and smell) appear to drive the continuation/discontinuation of e-cigarette use among young adults. Thus, cessation strategies may need to be developed with a focus on dependence and harm perceptions related to nicotine and flavors. Furthermore, better regulating open-pod-based devices and sweet–menthol flavors may help e-cigarette use prevention.

Keywords: e-cigarette; cessation; abstinence; young adults; predictors; longitudinal (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/6/4770/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/6/4770/ (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:20:y:2023:i:6:p:4770-:d:1091136

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 ().