Campaign-Targeted Attitudes Towards Vaping-Related Anxiety, Depression, and Stress and Associations With Stages of...

Given that many youth and young adults who use e-cigarettes report intentions to quit, there is a need to explore mechanisms that influence behavioral changes toward e-cigarette cessation.

Data were obtained from youth and young adults (aged 15-24 years at enrollment) participating in the Truth Longitudinal Cohort, who indicated past 30-day use of e-cigarettes and were surveyed between August and December 2023 (N = 734). Participants were asked how much they agree with campaign-targeted messages highlighting nicotine's potential to amplify feelings of anxiety, depression, and stress, as well as whether and when they intended to quit e-cigarettes (precontemplation = no plans to quit; contemplation = plan to quit in the next 6 months; preparation = plan to quit in the next 30 days; action = already quit). Multinomial logistic regression models were used to predict participants' stage of quitting based on their agreement with campaign-targeted attitudes toward vaping-related effects on anxiety, depression, and stress.

The largest proportion of participants were in the precontemplation stage (46.9%), followed by the contemplation stage (25.5%), action stage (17.3%), and preparation stage (10.2%). Estimated odds ratios for associations between agreement with attitudes toward vaping-related anxiety, depression, and stress increased in effect size, further along the quit stage (e.g., contemplation, preparation, and action vs. precontemplation stages).

Results indicate that campaign messages focused on associations between vaping nicotine and anxiety, depression, and stress may be relevant to and resonate with users of e-cigarettes, in a way that addresses their need for a reason to quit.