E-Cigarette Outcome Expectancies among Nationally Representative Samples of Adolescents and Young Adults |
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Authors: | Joshua O Barker Dannielle E Kelley Seth M Noar Beth A Reboussin Jennifer Cornacchione Ross Erin L Sutfin |
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Institution: | 1. School of Media and Journalism, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA;2. noar@email.unc.edu;4. Department of Biostatistics and Data Science, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA;5. Department of Social Sciences and Health Policy, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA |
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Abstract: | Objectives: We conducted nationally representative surveys of adolescents and young adults to examine associations between e-cigarette outcome expectancies and e-cigarette use. Background: E-cigarette use among adolescents and young adults has grown rapidly in recent years, yet little research has examined the beliefs that may underlie this behavior among nationally representative samples. Methods: N?=?1,298 adolescents (13–17) and 2,219 young adults (18–25) were surveyed using a probability-based web panel. Participants completed a survey that included a new outcome expectancy measure examining 3 positive (enjoyment, social influences, advantage over cigarettes) and 2 negative (health concerns, smoker association) expectancy domains and ever having used e-cigarettes ever use]. Results: Confirmatory factor analyses demonstrated a good fit of the outcome expectancies’ factor structure to the data. All outcome expectancies were associated with e-cigarette use in both populations in univariate analyses. In multiple logistic regression models controlling for several covariates, higher expected enjoyment was positively associated with a greater likelihood of e-cigarette use (aOR = 2.10, p < .05) among adolescents. Among young adults, enjoyment (aOR = 3.08, p < .001) was positively associated with a greater likelihood of use while both health concerns (aOR = 0.70, p < .01) and smoker association (aOR = 0.73, p < .05) were negatively associated with e-cigarette use. Conclusions: This study suggests that expected enjoyment is robustly associated with e-cigarette use among both adolescents and young adults. Health concerns may also play a role in e-cigarette use. Implications for e-cigarette prevention efforts and future research directions are discussed. |
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Keywords: | E-cigarette adolescent young adult outcome expectancies |
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