While traditional forms of tobacco consumption have steadily decreased in the United States, the use of electronic nicotine delivery systems, or “vaping”, has grown in popularity. Vaping proponents have often marketed these products as safe alternatives to cigarettes, etc., while emerging literature suggests otherwise. Vaping has been documented as a direct cause of severe respiratory injury as well as general nicotine dependence, and experts warn that the dearth of long-term exposure data may lead users to believe they are not at risk for potential carcinogenic activity. Among all populations, young adults are the largest consumers of vaping products. This study aims to delineate the prevalence of vaping-related factors and behaviors among college students in the United States.
The study’s sample consists of 498 undergraduate students taking an introductory psychology course at a university in the south-central Appalachian region of the United States. Participant completed online health surveys intended to test for possible correlations with vaping use. After responding to a dichotomous question reporting past vaporized nicotine product use, participants completed the remainder of the survey containing measures of many different health and well-being factors. These measures included demographics, seatbelt use, drinking while driving, phone use while driving, sexual history including risky sexual behaviors, birth control use, alcohol use, cannabis use, and other recreational substance use. Covariate analysis was conducted using the battery of health measures, and univariate logistic regression models were constructed to infer relationships between vaping history and health measure data.
Results of the analysis found the following health variables to be positively associated with a reported history of vaping use: gender (specifically males), seatbelt use, texting while driving, riding in the car with an intoxicated driver, prior sexual history, and use of oral contraception (p<0.05 for all).
Takeaway: concerns related to vaping among adolescents and adults in the United States demand greater research into the motivations and effects of the behavior. This data suggests potential relationships between vaping and other health-related events, especially those which may be classified as intrinsically risky.