Parent, peer, and executive function relationships to early adolescent e-cigarette use: a substance use pathway?

Area of Science:

• Adolescent Health
• Substance Use Research
• Neuroscience

Background:

• Limited understanding of e-cigarette use influences in early adolescents.
• Exploration of factors linked to gateway drug use: demographics, parent/peer influences, and executive function (EF) deficits.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine demographic, social, and executive function influences on e-cigarette and gateway drug use in early adolescents.
• Investigate associations between parent e-cigarette ownership, peer use, and executive function deficits with substance use.

Main Methods:

• Cross-sectional survey of 410 7th graders in Southern California.
• Logistic regression analyses to assess influences on lifetime e-cigarette, cigarette, and alcohol use.
• Inclusion of demographic variables, parent/peer substance use, and executive function (EF) measures.

Main Results:

• Prevalence: 11.0% e-cigarettes, 6.8% cigarettes, 38.1% alcohol.
• Parental e-cigarette ownership linked to all substance use; peer use linked to gateway drugs.
• Executive function (EF) deficits significantly increased likelihood of e-cigarette (5x) and gateway drug (2x) use.

Conclusions:

• E-cigarette and gateway drug use share common risk factors in early adolescence.
• Parental/peer modeling and executive function (EF) deficits are significant predictors.
• Further longitudinal research and intervention studies on EF skills training are recommended.