School-based E-cigarette cessation programs: What do youth want?

E-cigarette use is a problem among youth, yet few vaping cessation programs exist. This study aimed to understand what youth want in a school-based vaping cessation program to inform intervention development.

We conducted 8 focus groups in Fall 2019 with Connecticut high school youth (N = 4-10 adolescents per group, total N = 62, 50% female). 6 groups were with youth who were current (i.e., past-month) e-cigarette users and 2 groups were with past users (i.e., lifetime users with no past-month use). Discussions focused on desired features and concerns about a vaping cessation program and analyses used an iterative inductive and deductive approach to identify qualitative themes. We also collected brief survey data assessing skills youth wanted to learn from a vaping cessation program.

Qualitative themes emerged indicating that youth want a vaping cessation program to include education about health effects of vaping, relatable personal anecdotes from others, and rewards for quitting. Potential concerns include confidentiality (e.g., ensuring teachers/coaches would not know about e-cigarette use), perceptions that youth may not want to participate due to lack of interest/apathy or embarrassment, and needing methods to verify abstinence to limit inaccurate reporting. The most frequently endorsed skills from the survey indicated youth want to learn ways to deal with stress (92%), relax (60%), and deal with poor concentration/attention (55%).

Findings identified key features to include and issues to address when developing school-based vaping cessation programs. Developing effective vaping cessation programs that appeal to youth is important for addressing youth e-cigarette use.