E-cigarette prevalence and correlates of use among adolescents versus adults: a review and comparison.
Abstract
Perceived safer than tobacco cigarettes, prevalence of electronic cigarette (e-cigarette)
use is increasing. Analyses of cartridges suggest that e-cigarettes may pose health
risks. In light of increased use and the potential for consequences, we searched Google
Scholar and Pubmed in July of 2013 using keywords, such as e-cigarette and vaping,
to compare differences and similarities in prevalence and correlates of e-cigarette
use among adolescents (grades 6-12) versus adults (aged ≥18 years). Twenty-one studies
focused on e-cigarette use. Ever-use increased among various age groups. In 2011,
ever-use was highest among young adults (college students and those aged 20-28; 4.9%-7.0%),
followed by adults (aged ≥18; 0.6%-6.2%), and adolescents (grades 6-12 and aged 11-19;
<1%-3.3%). However, in 2012 adolescent ever-use increased to 6.8% and, among high
school students, went as high as 10.0%. While the identified common correlate of e-cigarette
use was a history of cigarette smoking, a notable proportion of adolescents and young
adults who never smoked cigarettes had ever-used e-cigarettes. E-cigarette use was
not consistently associated with attempting to quit tobacco among young adults. Adults
most often reported e-cigarettes as a substitute for tobacco, although not always
to quit. Reviewed studies showed a somewhat different pattern of e-cigarette use among
young people (new e-cigarette users who had never used tobacco) versus adults (former
or current tobacco users). Research is needed to better characterize prevalences,
use correlates, and motives of use in different population groups, including how adolescent
and young adult experimentation with e-cigarettes relates to other types of substance
use behaviors.
Type
Journal articleSubject
HumansSmoking
Age Factors
Databases, Factual
Adolescent
Adult
Child
Young Adult
Electronic Cigarettes
Permalink
https://hdl.handle.net/10161/19977Published Version (Please cite this version)
10.1016/j.jpsychires.2014.03.005Publication Info
Carroll Chapman, Shawna L; & Wu, Li-Tzy (2014). E-cigarette prevalence and correlates of use among adolescents versus adults: a review
and comparison. Journal of psychiatric research, 54(1). pp. 43-54. 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2014.03.005. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/19977.This is constructed from limited available data and may be imprecise. To cite this
article, please review & use the official citation provided by the journal.
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Show full item recordScholars@Duke
Li-Tzy Wu
Professor in Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Education/Training: Pre- and post-doctoral training in mental health service research,
psychiatric epidemiology (NIMH T32), and addiction epidemiology (NIDA T32) from Johns
Hopkins University School of Public Health (Maryland); Fellow of the NIH Summer Institute
on the Design and Conduct of Randomized Clinical Trials.Director: Duke Community Based
Substance Use Disorder Research Program.Research interests: COVID-19, Opioid misuse,
Opioid overdose, Opioid use disorder

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