Most Adolescents Have Tried or Want to Quit Vaping, Study Reports

More than half of adolescents who vape said that they intend to quit and about two-thirds had tried to quit during the past year, according to astudy of middle and high school students published online inPediatrics. These numbers reflect a significant increase in the intention and number of attempts to quit compared with the results of a similar survey of adolescents in 2017. That survey found that 44% of the respondents had thought seriously about quitting and 25% had tried.The study inPediatrics also revealed that adolescents ’ perceived harm from vaping is strongly associated with their intention to quit and attempts to quit in the past year.“[I]t is alarming that 44.5% of current e-cigarette users still perceived e-cigarette use as no harm or little harm, which could dampen the motivation for vaping cessation,” wrote author Hongying Dai, Ph.D., of the University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Public Health.Dai analyzed the responses from 1,660 students in grades 6 through 12 who participated in theNational Youth Tobacco Survey in 2020 and had reported using e-cigarettes one or more times in the past month. That survey estimated that 20% of high school students and 5% of middle school students were current e-cigarette users. Dai was interested in what factors influenced students ’ intentions to quit vaping and past-year quit attempts.Dai found that more than half of students perceived e-cigarette use to be harmful (56%). These students were more than twice a...
Source: Psychiatr News - Category: Psychiatry Tags: attempt E-cigarettes intent National Youth Tobacco Survey pediatrics vaping Source Type: research