Abstaining College Students' Motives to Use E-Cigarettes: A Brief Report

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Psychology
• Behavioral Science

Background:

• College students exhibit higher e-cigarette use rates than their non-college-attending peers.
• E-cigarette-abstaining college students represent an understudied demographic regarding their motivations.
• Understanding abstention and initiation motives is crucial for targeted public health interventions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a scale measuring motives for e-cigarette abstention and initiation among college students.
• To identify key factors influencing decisions to abstain from or potentially initiate e-cigarette use.
• To explore the relationship between abstention motives, initiation motives, and behavioral intentions.

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional online survey was administered to 281 never-e-cigarette-using college students from two universities.
• Participants reported on their motives for abstaining from and initiating e-cigarette use.
• Perceived vulnerability, willingness, and intentions regarding e-cigarette use were also assessed.

Main Results:

• Three primary abstention motives emerged: avoiding health outcomes, low incentive to initiate, and social approval concerns.
• Three primary initiation motives were identified: use as tobacco alternatives, social reasons, and coping with negative emotions.
• Coping motives positively predicted willingness and intentions for future e-cigarette initiation, while avoiding health outcomes related to perceived vulnerability.

Conclusions:

• The study provides initial evidence for a scale assessing abstainers' motives for e-cigarette initiation.
• Coping motives appear to be significant indicators of potential future e-cigarette initiation among college student abstainers.
• Findings highlight the importance of addressing emotional coping mechanisms in prevention strategies.