University of Maryland, School of Social Work, United States of America.
Department of Social Welfare, Ewha Womans University, Republic of Korea.
J Affect Disord. 2023 Nov 1;340:129-138. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2023.08.011. Epub 2023 Aug 4.
The use of e-cigarette among Korean adolescents is spreading with alarming rapidity, but it has not been studied along with the severity level of GAD-7. This study aims to identify adolescents' e-cigarette use and its associated factors among four different anxiety groups using the problem behavioral theory (PBT).
A cross-sectional secondary dataset was retrieved from the 2020 Korea Youth Risk Behavior Survey. Of the total sample of 54,948, four anxiety groups were formed: minimal (score 0-4; n = 36,711), mild (score 5-9; n = 12,138), moderate (score 10-14; n = 4143), and severe (score above 15; n = 1965). A total of 11 variables were selected based on the PBT domains. Descriptive analysis, Chi-square, ANOVA, univariate analysis, and multiple linear regression analysis were performed.
E-cigarette use was the highest in the order of severe, mild, moderate, and minimal. While cigarette use was associated with vaping in all anxiety groups, adolescents with minimal or mild anxiety levels were more likely to be influenced by tobacco accessibility and other behavior system factors such as sexual intercourse, alcohol use, and smartphone addiction. Meanwhile, secondhand smoke exposure in public areas was only associated with those with severe anxiety levels, and secondhand smoke exposure at school was a significant factor in all anxiety groups except for those with moderate anxiety levels.
Due to the nature of cross-sectional dataset, the study could not draw causal links between vaping and other identified factors, include all the necessary PBT components.
These findings underscore the need to consider different levels of anxiety when addressing the problems related to vaping among Korean adolescents.
电子烟在韩国青少年中的使用正在以惊人的速度蔓延，但尚未结合 GAD-7 的严重程度进行研究。本研究旨在使用问题行为理论（PBT），根据四个不同的焦虑组识别青少年电子烟的使用情况及其相关因素。
从 2020 年韩国青少年风险行为调查中检索了一项横断面二次数据集。在总计 54948 名样本中，形成了四个焦虑组：轻度（得分 0-4；n=36711）、中度（得分 5-9；n=12138）、中度（得分 10-14；n=4143）和重度（得分高于 15；n=1965）。根据 PBT 领域选择了 11 个变量。进行了描述性分析、卡方检验、方差分析、单变量分析和多元线性回归分析。
电子烟使用量依次为重度、轻度、中度和轻度最高。虽然在所有焦虑组中，吸烟与电子烟使用相关，但轻度或轻度焦虑的青少年更容易受到烟草可及性和其他行为系统因素的影响，如性行为、饮酒和智能手机成瘾。同时，公共场所二手烟暴露仅与重度焦虑水平的青少年相关，而学校二手烟暴露是所有焦虑组（除中度焦虑组外）的一个重要因素。
由于横断面数据集的性质，研究无法在电子烟和其他确定的因素之间建立因果关系，包括所有必要的 PBT 成分。
这些发现强调了在解决韩国青少年与电子烟相关问题时，需要考虑不同程度的焦虑。
