An evaluation of e-cigarette use as it relates to alcohol demand among young adult college students

Young adults most commonly use alcohol (65%), cannabis (27%), and e-cigarettes (14%; Schulenberg et al., 2021). Considering e-cigarettes have only recently gained popularity in this population, the use patterns and effects of use on young adults requires further research. Alcohol is still the most commonly used substance among high schoolers and young adults (Schulenberg et al., 2021). Studies have found that young adult college students who binge drink are more dependent on e-cigarettes (Yang et al., 2022), indicating that alcohol and e-cigarette use may impact each other. The present study evaluates the reinforcing efficacy of alcohol as a function of e-cigarette use. One hundred sixty-seven young adult college students completed measures of their alcohol dependence, e-cigarette dependence, anxiety, and depression and completed an alcohol purchase task to evaluate their demand for alcohol. Across three categories of e-cigarette use, we found that intensity, maximum expenditure, and essential value for alcohol were significantly higher among daily e-cigarette users than individuals who have never used an e-cigarette. This study replicates findings from the traditional cigarette literature demonstrating that alcohol demand is greater among smokers than nonsmokers (Amlung et al., 2017; Yurasek et al., 2013). Implications for these findings related to cross-cue reactivity among individuals trying to quit alcohol or e-cigarettes are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).