Adolescent Susceptibility to E-Cigarettes: An Update From the 2018 National Youth Tobacco Survey.

PURPOSE

Examine correlates of e-cigarette susceptibility among adolescents.

DESIGN

Secondary data analyses using the 2018 National Youth Tobacco Survey, excluding participants under 12 and over 17.

SETTING

United States middle and high schools.

SUBJECTS

Never e-cigarette users ( = 12,439) ages 12-17.

MEASURES

Relationships between e-cigarette susceptibility and age, sex, race/ethnicity, ever tobacco use, perceived ease of purchasing tobacco products, perceived harm, relative addictiveness, household use of e-cigarettes/tobacco were examined.

ANALYSIS

Odds of susceptibility were modeled with weighted multivariable logistic regressions.

RESULTS

Thirty-five percent (unweighted = 4,436) of adolescents were susceptible to e-cigarettes. Adolescents who were female (aOR = 1.2), Hispanic (aOR = 1.3), perceived e-cigarettes as anything less than "a lot of harm" (aOR = 2.2-4.9) and "easy" to purchase (aOR = 1.4), had ever used combustible tobacco (aOR = 2.9), or reported household use of e-cigarettes (aOR = 1.5) were susceptible. Non-Hispanic black respondents (vs. non-Hispanic white; aOR = 0.72) had significantly odds of susceptibility to e-cigarettes.

CONCLUSION

In the 2018 NYTS adolescent sample, perceptions of harm and ease of tobacco product purchase appear to be significantly related to higher odds of e-cigarette susceptibility, in addition to other demographic factors. Longitudinal data, particularly cohort data following adolescents from susceptible to actual or no use, are needed to assess predictors of e-cigarette use initiation.