Youth Tobacco Control in the Digital Age: Impact of South Carolina’s Youth Tobacco Education and Vaping Cessation Social Media Programs

Carolyn A. Stalgaitis (), Susan Dang, Catherine Warner, Sharon Biggers, LaQuanna Jackson and Jeffrey W. Jordan
Additional contact information
Carolyn A. Stalgaitis: Rescue Agency, 2437 Morena Blvd, San Diego, CA 92110, USA
Susan Dang: Rescue Agency, 2437 Morena Blvd, San Diego, CA 92110, USA
Catherine Warner: Division of Tobacco Prevention and Control, South Carolina Department of Public Health, 2100 Bull St, Columbia, SC 29201, USA
Sharon Biggers: Division of Tobacco Prevention and Control, South Carolina Department of Public Health, 2100 Bull St, Columbia, SC 29201, USA
LaQuanna Jackson: Division of Tobacco Prevention and Control, South Carolina Department of Public Health, 2100 Bull St, Columbia, SC 29201, USA
Jeffrey W. Jordan: Rescue Agency, 2437 Morena Blvd, San Diego, CA 92110, USA

IJERPH, 2025, vol. 22, issue 2, 1-20

Abstract: To maintain relevance, youth tobacco control programs must leverage popular social media platforms and address evolving behaviors. Recognizing this, the South Carolina Department of Public Health and Rescue Agency implemented culturally tailored social media campaigns ( Down and Dirty , Fresh Empire ), a broad vaping social media campaign ( Behind the Haze ), and an Instagram-based vaping cessation program ( Quit the Hit , QTH ). This study examines program impact. The social media campaigns were evaluated via online cross-sectional surveys in 2019–2023. Analyses examined awareness and reception overall and among target audiences and compared knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs between campaign-aware and unaware participants. The impact of QTH was assessed via online baseline and follow-up surveys in 2021–2023. Analyses examined program feedback and changes in cessation confidence and tobacco use from baseline to follow-up. Over one-third of participants recalled the social media campaigns, and recall of featured facts was higher among the campaign-aware participants than the unaware participants. QTH participants’ confidence in quitting increased from baseline to follow-up, while any 30-day vaping and average number of days of vaping decreased. This innovative social media program reached high-risk youth with educational content and empowered teens to quit vaping, providing a model for comprehensive youth tobacco control programs.

Keywords: social media; adolescent; vaping; smokeless tobacco; tobacco use; tobacco control; tobacco cessation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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