Department of Public Health, University of Otago, Wellington, New Zealand.
Otago School of Medicine, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.
Drug Alcohol Rev. 2024 Nov;43(7):1710-1717. doi: 10.1111/dar.13902. Epub 2024 Jul 15.
Young people who use nicotine-containing electronic cigarettes, or 'vapes', risk becoming addicted to these products. While several studies document dependency symptoms, few report in-depth qualitative analyses of addiction.
We explored experiences of self-reported vaping addiction using in-depth interviews with 22 young people aged 16-20 years who vaped and lived in Aotearoa New Zealand. Our semi-structured interview guide probed participants' early experiences and how they progressed from experimentation to addiction and explored how addiction affected their perceptions and daily routines. We used an inductive reflexive thematic analysis approach to interpret the data.
Vaping's pervasiveness piqued participants' curiosity and encouraged trial. Most transitioned from experimentation to addiction within a couple of months; while a minority described a slower progression, nearly all felt irritable, angry or uncomfortable if they had to delay vaping. Intense cravings disrupted school and work routines and dictated how they spent their time. Many deeply regretted vaping and some suffered shame and embarrassment. These participants saw vaping as a threat to the well-being of younger youth, which they tried to shield from addiction.
We go beyond earlier studies by probing the burden vaping comes to represent, offering new insights into young people's everyday experiences of vaping addiction. In addition to informing health promotion campaigns, our findings could inform policy directions. Understanding the speed with which addiction can occur, its impact on daily life, and the considerable regret many felt could help inform a more strategic and sorely needed approach to reducing youth vaping.
使用含有尼古丁的电子烟或“ vape”的年轻人有沉迷于这些产品的风险。尽管有几项研究记录了依赖症状，但很少有报告深入分析成瘾的定性分析。
我们通过对 22 名年龄在 16-20 岁之间的年轻人进行深入访谈，探讨了他们自我报告的蒸气成瘾经历，这些年轻人在新西兰使用电子烟。我们的半结构化访谈指南探讨了参与者的早期经历，以及他们如何从尝试转变为成瘾，并探讨了成瘾如何影响他们的看法和日常生活。我们使用了一种归纳性反思主题分析方法来解释数据。
蒸气的普遍性引起了参与者的好奇心并鼓励了尝试。大多数人在几个月内从尝试转为成瘾；尽管少数人描述了一个较慢的进展过程，但几乎所有人都感到烦躁，生气或不舒服，如果他们不得不延迟蒸气。强烈的渴望扰乱了学校和工作的日常生活，并决定了他们的时间安排。许多人对蒸气感到后悔，有些人感到羞耻和尴尬。这些参与者认为蒸气对年轻一代的福祉构成威胁，他们试图防止年轻人沉迷于蒸气。
我们通过探究蒸气所代表的负担，超越了早期的研究，为年轻人日常蒸气成瘾的经验提供了新的见解。除了为健康促进运动提供信息外，我们的研究结果还可以为政策方向提供信息。了解成瘾可能发生的速度，对日常生活的影响以及许多人感到的巨大遗憾，可能有助于制定更具战略性和急需的减少青年蒸气的方法。
