Social Media Support Groups for Youth Nicotine Vaping Cessation: An RCT

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Digital Health
• Adolescent Health

Background:

• E-cigarettes are the most prevalent tobacco product among adolescents and young adults.
• Few cessation programs exist for young people, especially on social media platforms.
• Adolescent e-cigarette use remains a significant public health concern requiring innovative interventions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of Instagram-based cessation support groups for adolescent and young adult e-cigarette users.
• To compare the efficacy of social media support against traditional quitline referrals in a randomized controlled trial.

Main Methods:

• A randomized controlled trial involving 500 participants aged 13-21 years, recruited via social media.
• Participants were assigned to either an Instagram direct message support group (intervention) or state quitline resources (control) for five weeks.
• Follow-up surveys were conducted at 5 weeks, 3 months, and 6 months to assess 7-day point prevalence abstinence from e-cigarette use.

Main Results:

• The intervention group showed significantly higher abstinence rates at 6 months (53.9%) compared to the control group (40.4%) in complete case analysis (OR=2.07, p=0.008).
• Intention-to-treat analysis also indicated greater abstinence in the intervention group (18.2% vs 11.8%, OR=2.15, p=0.025).
• No significant differences were observed in vaping reduction, attitudes, or use of evidence-based cessation methods, though intervention participants reported higher social support.

Conclusions:

• Social media support groups delivered via Instagram are an acceptable and effective method for aiding young people in quitting e-cigarettes.
• This digital intervention demonstrates superior efficacy in improving abstinence rates over six months compared to standard quitline referrals.
• Findings support the integration of social media platforms into public health strategies for adolescent and young adult smoking cessation.