Bataineh Bara S, Marti C Nathan, Murthy Dhiraj, Badillo David, Chow Sherman, Loukas Alexandra, Wilkinson Anna V
University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Austin, TX, United States.
University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, United States.
JMIR Res Protoc. 2025 Mar 24;14:e63584. doi: 10.2196/63584.
The tobacco industry has a history of targeting minority communities, including Hispanic individuals, by promoting vaping through social media. This marketing increases the risk of vaping among Hispanic young adults, including college students. In Texas, college enrollment among Mexican Americans has significantly increased over recent years. However, little research exists on the link between social media and vaping and the underlying mechanisms (ie, outcome expectations, attitudes, and beliefs) explaining how vaping-related social media impacts vaping among Mexican American college students. Moreover, there is limited knowledge about how acculturation moderates the association between social media and vaping. Hispanic individuals, particularly Mexican Americans, are the largest ethnic group in Texas colleges; thus, it is crucial to understand the impact of social media and acculturation on their vaping behaviors.
We outline the mixed methods used in Project Vaping, Acculturation, and Media Study (VAMoS). We present descriptive analyses of the participants enrolled in the study, highlight methodological strengths, and discuss lessons learned during the implementation of the study protocol related to recruitment and data collection and management.
Project VAMoS is being conducted with Mexican American students attending 1 of 6 Texas-based colleges: University of Texas (UT) Arlington, UT Dallas, UT El Paso, UT Rio Grande Valley, UT San Antonio, and the University of Houston System. This project has 2 phases. Phase 1 included an ecological momentary assessment (EMA) study and qualitative one-on-one interviews (years 1-2), and phase 2 includes cognitive interviews and a 4-wave web-based survey study (years 2-4) with objective assessments of vaping-related social media content to which participants are exposed. Descriptive statistics summarized participants' characteristics in the EMA and web-based survey.
The EMA analytic sample comprised 51 participants who were primarily female (n=37, 73%), born in the United States (n=48, 94%), of middle socioeconomic status (n=38, 75%), and aged 21 years on average (SD 1.7 years). The web-based survey cohort comprised 1492 participants self-identifying as Mexican American; Tejano, Tejana, or Tejanx; or Chicano, Chicana, or Chicanx heritage who were primarily female (n=1042, 69.8%), born in the United States (n=1366, 91.6%), of middle socioeconomic status (n=1174, 78.7%), and aged 20.1 years on average at baseline (SD 2.2 years). Of the baseline cohort, the retention rate in wave 2 was 74.7% (1114/1492).
Project VAMoS is one of the first longitudinal mixed methods studies exploring the impact of social media and acculturation on vaping behaviors specifically targeting Mexican American college students. Its innovative approach to objectively measuring social media exposure and engagement related to vaping enhances the validity of self-reported data beyond what national surveys can achieve. The results can be used to develop evidence-based, culturally relevant interventions to prevent vaping among this rapidly growing minority population.
INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID): DERR1-10.2196/63584.
烟草行业一直以来都将少数族裔社区作为目标，包括西班牙裔人群，通过社交媒体推广电子烟。这种营销方式增加了西班牙裔年轻人（包括大学生）使用电子烟的风险。在得克萨斯州，近年来墨西哥裔美国人的大学入学率显著提高。然而，关于社交媒体与电子烟使用之间的联系以及解释与电子烟相关的社交媒体如何影响墨西哥裔美国大学生电子烟使用行为的潜在机制（即结果期望、态度和信念）的研究很少。此外，关于文化适应如何调节社交媒体与电子烟使用之间的关联的知识也很有限。西班牙裔人群，尤其是墨西哥裔美国人，是得克萨斯州各大学中最大的种族群体；因此，了解社交媒体和文化适应对他们电子烟使用行为的影响至关重要。
我们概述了电子烟、文化适应与媒体研究项目（VAMoS）中使用的混合方法。我们展示了参与该研究的参与者的描述性分析，强调了方法学优势，并讨论了在研究方案实施过程中与招募、数据收集和管理相关的经验教训。
VAMoS项目正在对就读于得克萨斯州6所大学之一的墨西哥裔美国学生开展研究，这6所大学分别是：得克萨斯大学阿灵顿分校、得克萨斯大学达拉斯分校、得克萨斯大学埃尔帕索分校、得克萨斯大学格兰德河谷分校、得克萨斯大学圣安东尼奥分校和休斯敦大学系统。该项目有两个阶段。第一阶段包括一项生态瞬时评估（EMA）研究和定性一对一访谈（第1 - 2年），第二阶段包括认知访谈和一项基于网络的4波调查研究（第2 - 4年），并对参与者接触到的与电子烟相关的社交媒体内容进行客观评估。描述性统计总结了EMA和基于网络的调查中参与者的特征。
EMA分析样本包括51名参与者，他们主要为女性（n = 37，73%），出生在美国（n = 48，94%），社会经济地位处于中等水平（n = 38，75%），平均年龄为21岁（标准差1.7岁）。基于网络的调查队列包括1492名自我认定为具有墨西哥裔美国、特哈诺、特哈娜或特哈恩克斯血统，或奇卡诺、奇卡娜或奇卡恩克斯血统的参与者，他们主要为女性（n = 1042，69.8%），出生在美国（n = 1366，91.6%），社会经济地位处于中等水平（n = 1174，78.7%），基线时平均年龄为20.1岁（标准差2.2岁）。在基线队列中，第2波的留存率为74.7%（1114/1492）。
VAMoS项目是首批探索社交媒体和文化适应对专门针对墨西哥裔美国大学生电子烟使用行为影响的纵向混合方法研究之一。其客观测量与电子烟相关的社交媒体曝光和参与度的创新方法提高了自我报告数据的有效性，这是全国性调查无法实现的。研究结果可用于制定基于证据、与文化相关的干预措施，以预防这一快速增长的少数族裔群体中的电子烟使用行为。
国际注册报告标识符（IRRID）：DERR1 - 10.2196/63584。
