Abstract

Youth and young adult (YYA) vaping is an escalating public health concern. Due to their sleek designs, desirable flavors, and high nicotine concentrations, pod-based devices currently hold the largest e-cigarette market share. The major contribution of pod-based devices to the vaping epidemic substantiates studying differences in perceptions and experiences between YYAs for pod and non-pod devices. Such evidence is imperative in hopes of developing device-specific interventions to decelerate e-cigarette use, which to date is limited. To address aforementioned gaps, nicotine-based e-cigarette users residing in Canada [N = 403, 53.6% male, mean age = 18.3 years (SD = 1.9), pod users = 62.5%] were surveyed using open-ended questions. Responses to each question were coded by topic. Using these codes, differences between YYA (youth versus young adults) use of each device type (pods and non-pod devices) were quantitatively examined for each topic and underlying categories. Youth non-pod users frequently reported nicotine rush and enhancement more frequently and positive social aspects less frequently than young adult non-pod users. Youth pod users reported more exposure to buying and selling vaping content on social media than young adult pod users. The novel findings of this study highlight the need for considering differences among YYA users of each device-type in developing policies and interventions. Policies in the form of reducing nicotine concentration and alternative coping strategy interventions will likely work for youth non-pod users, yet de-normalizing vaping through social marketing distinctively benefits young adult counterparts. Additionally, regulating social media in both user- and industry-generated forms is key for youth pod users.

摘要

青少年和青少年 (YYA) 电子烟是一个不断升级的公共卫生问题。由于其时尚的设计、理想的口味和高尼古丁浓度，基于烟弹的设备目前占据了最大的电子烟市场份额。基于 pod 的设备对电子烟流行的主要贡献证实了对 pod 和非 pod 设备的 YYAs 之间的感知和体验差异的研究。这些证据对于开发特定设备的干预措施来减缓电子烟的使用是必不可少的，而电子烟的使用迄今为止是有限的。为了解决上述差距，居住在加拿大的尼古丁电子烟用户 [ N  = 403, 53.6% 男性，平均年龄 = 18.3 岁（SD = 1.9)，pod 用户 = 62.5%] 使用开放式问题进行调查。每个问题的回答都按主题编码。使用这些代码，针对每个主题和基本类别定量检查了 YYA（青年与年轻人）使用每种设备类型（吊舱和非吊舱设备）之间的差异。与年轻的非 Pod 用户相比，青年非 Pod 用户经常更频繁地报告尼古丁冲动和增强，而积极的社会方面则较少。与年轻成人 pod 用户相比，青年 pod 用户报告说在社交媒体上购买和销售电子烟内容的机会更多。本研究的新发现强调了在制定政策和干预措施时需要考虑每种设备类型的 YYA 用户之间的差异。降低尼古丁浓度和替代应对策略干预形式的政策可能会适用于青少年非吸食烟弹用户，但通过社会营销使电子烟非正常化对年轻成人有明显好处。此外，以用户和行业生成的形式监管社交媒体对于青年 pod 用户来说是关键。