Electronic cigarettes and pregnancy: A social media content analysis

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Social Media Analysis
• Reproductive Health

Background:

• Electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) use during pregnancy presents a complex public health challenge.
• Social media platforms are increasingly influential in health-related discussions.
• Understanding online discourse is crucial for public health interventions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze social media content regarding e-cigarette use during pregnancy.
• To examine message characteristics, messenger attributes, and engagement on TikTok.

Main Methods:

• Content analysis of 170 TikTok posts from 2023 concerning e-cigarettes and pregnancy.
• Coding of message valence, messenger demographics, geographic origin, and engagement metrics.
• Statistical analysis (Chi-Square, Kruskal-Wallis) to compare engagement and valence by characteristics.

Main Results:

• The majority of posts (55%) were anti-e-cigarette use during pregnancy; 12.9% were pro.
• Most messengers were female (90.6%), aged 18-30 (53.5%), and 40.9% were pregnant.
• High engagement was observed; posts by healthcare providers and older messengers had more followers.
• Anti-e-cigarette content was more common from US-based messengers and those who had quit vaping, while UK-based posts leaned pro.

Conclusions:

• TikTok hosts a wide spectrum of content on e-cigarette use in pregnancy.
• Further research is needed to understand how pregnant individuals engage with this content.
• Healthcare providers show potential as effective messengers for promoting e-cigarette cessation on social media.