Do Your Kids Vape?: Investigating Parent Knowledge of Adolescent e-Cigarette Use

This study aimed to evaluate parental knowledge of their adolescent's e-cigarette use and their awareness of negative effects.

Participants were English-speaking 12- to 18-year-old patients and their guardians presenting to a pediatric emergency department. Patients and guardians were invited to complete a survey detailing e-cigarette use, parental awareness, and the understanding of risks. Participants were given separate surveys. They were monitored by research assistants in the room to ensure that answers were kept private. χ2 Analysis was used to interpret the data.

A total of 309 paired surveys were obtained over an 8-month period. Of adolescents surveyed, 85 (27.5%) admitted to having ever used an e-cigarette and 33 (10.7%) admitted to regular use. Regular usage was defined as use within the last 30 days. Of the adolescents who used e-cigarettes, the majority (77.8%) had never smoked a traditional cigarette before. For teens who used e-cigarettes, 71.8% of their respective guardians were aware. When the adolescent reported that they did not use e-cigarettes, 91.3% of guardians responded that they did not believe their child was using the device. Guardians were somewhat worse at knowing if their child regularly used e-cigarettes, with only 54.8% of parents reporting to think that their child regularly uses. Finally, both adolescents and guardians reported to know that e-cigarette use was harmful. On a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the worst, 83.5% and 88.3% of patients and guardians, respectively, rated e-cigarette usage harm at 4 or 5.

It seems guardians are generally aware of their adolescent's e-cigarette use, and both parents and adolescents are aware of the negative side effects of e-cigarettes on health. We did not investigate whether guardians discussed their concerns on e-cigarette usage with their adolescents. It is also unclear what specific health consequences guardians and adolescents are aware of. These may be points of further investigation and intervention.