Awua Joshua, Tuliao Antover P, Webb Jon R, Mills Devin J, Washburn Micki, Meisel Matthew K
University of Texas at Arlington School of Social Work, Arlington, TX, US.
Department of Community, Family, and Addiction Sciences, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, US.
Addict Res Theory. 2025 Jun 11. doi: 10.1080/16066359.2025.2514212.
Prior studies have found that e-cigarette-related interpersonal communication and perceived norms are associated with young adults' e-cigarette use. However, it is unclear whether social network size moderates these relationships. This study examined the relationship between interpersonal discussions, perceived norms, and e-cigarette use outcomes (i.e., daily vaping episodes and vaping days per week) and further examined whether network size moderates these relationships.
The sample consisted of 670 college students (81% female, 82.8% white; M = 21.20; SD = 3.92).
There was a significant and positive association between e-cigarette-related interpersonal communication, daily vaping episodes, and vaping days per week, but not for perceived norms. In addition, we found a significant interaction between interpersonal communication and network size. Follow-up Johnson-Neyman analyses revealed that the association between the frequency of e-cigarette discussions and vaping days per week was significant and positive when network size was low to medium; however, this relationship changes and becomes non-significant when network size was high.
The results highlight that young adults who are in smaller social networks and frequently discuss e-cigarettes may be susceptible to vaping multiple times per day and days per week. Therefore, interventions to reduce e-cigarette use among young adults may be particularly effective when implemented within smaller social networks.
先前的研究发现，与电子烟相关的人际交流和感知规范与年轻人使用电子烟有关。然而，尚不清楚社交网络规模是否会调节这些关系。本研究考察了人际讨论、感知规范与电子烟使用结果（即每日 vaping 次数和每周 vaping 天数）之间的关系，并进一步考察了网络规模是否会调节这些关系。
样本包括670名大学生（81%为女性，82.8%为白人；平均年龄M = 21.20；标准差SD = 3.92）。
与电子烟相关的人际交流与每日 vaping 次数和每周 vaping 天数之间存在显著正相关，但与感知规范无关。此外，我们发现人际交流与网络规模之间存在显著交互作用。后续的约翰逊 - 内曼分析表明，当网络规模为低到中等时，电子烟讨论频率与每周 vaping 天数之间的关联显著且为正；然而，当网络规模较高时，这种关系会发生变化并变得不显著。
研究结果表明，处于较小社交网络且频繁讨论电子烟的年轻人可能容易出现每天多次 vaping 以及每周多天 vaping 的情况。因此，在较小社交网络内实施减少年轻人电子烟使用的干预措施可能会特别有效。
