Department of Population Health, Grossman School of Medicine, New York University, New York, NY 10016, USA.
School of Global Public Health, New York University, New York, NY 10003, USA.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 May 20;19(10):6215. doi: 10.3390/ijerph19106215.
Exposure to e-cigarette advertising is associated with e-cigarette use among young people. This study examined the mediating effect of e-cigarette harm perception on the above relationship. Cross-sectional survey data were collected from 2112 college students in New York City in 2017-2018. The analytic sample comprised 2078 participants (58.6% females) who provided completed data. Structural equal modeling was performed to examine if e-cigarette harm perception mediated the relationship between e-cigarette advertising exposure (via TV, radio, large signs, print media, and online) and ever e-cigarette use and susceptibility to e-cigarette use. About 17.1% of participants reported ever e-cigarette use. Of never users, 17.5% were susceptible to e-cigarette use. E-cigarette advertising exposure was mainly through online sources (31.5%). Most participants (59.4%) perceived e-cigarettes as equally or more harmful than cigarettes. Advertising exposure showed different effects on e-cigarette harm perception depending on the source of the advertising exposure, but perceiving e-cigarettes as less harmful than cigarettes was consistently associated with e-cigarette use and susceptibility. Low harm perception mediated the association between advertising exposure (via online, TV, and radio) and ever e-cigarette use and between online advertising exposure and e-cigarette use susceptibility. Regulatory actions are needed to address e-cigarette marketing, particularly on the Internet.
电子烟广告接触与年轻人使用电子烟有关。本研究检验了电子烟危害感知在上述关系中的中介作用。2017-2018 年，在纽约市对 2112 名大学生进行了横断面调查。分析样本包括 2078 名参与者（58.6%为女性），他们提供了完整的数据。结构等距模型用于检验电子烟危害感知是否在电子烟广告接触（通过电视、广播、大型标志、印刷媒体和在线）与曾经使用电子烟和对电子烟使用的易感性之间的关系中起中介作用。约 17.1%的参与者报告曾经使用过电子烟。从不使用者中，17.5%的人容易使用电子烟。电子烟广告接触主要通过在线来源（31.5%）。大多数参与者（59.4%）认为电子烟与香烟一样或更有害。广告接触对电子烟危害感知的影响因广告接触的来源而异，但与电子烟使用和易感性相关的始终是将电子烟感知为比香烟危害小。低危害感知在广告接触（通过在线、电视和广播）与曾经使用电子烟之间，以及在在线广告接触与电子烟使用易感性之间的关联中起中介作用。需要采取监管行动来解决电子烟营销问题，特别是在互联网上。
