Purpose: This study describes the frequency of JUUL e-cigarette (referred to as JUUL) quit attempts and identifies characteristics associated with confidence in quitting and perceived difficulty quitting JUUL.
Design: Cross-sectional study from a self-administered online survey.
Setting: Two public southern California universities.
Participants: A total of 1,001 undergraduate students completed the survey from February to May 2019.
Measures: Self-report measures about JUUL included use, history of quit attempts, time to first use, perceived difficulty with cessation/reduction, and confidence in quitting.
Analysis: Binary logistic regressions were used to identify demographic and tobacco-related behavioral correlates of JUUL cessation-related perceptions and behaviors.
Results: Nearly half of ever-JUUL users (47.8%) reported a JUUL quit attempt. Adjusting for demographic factors and other tobacco product use, shorter time to first JUUL use after waking was associated with lower confidence in quitting JUUL (aOR = 0.02, 0.00-0.13) and greater perceived difficulty in quitting JUUL (aOR = 8.08, 2.15-30.35). Previous JUUL quit attempt history was also associated with greater odds of perceived difficulty quitting JUUL (aOR = 5.97, 1.74-20.53).
Conclusions: History of JUUL quit attempts among college students was common. Those who had previously tried quitting were more likely to perceive difficulty with cessation. Time to first JUUL use, a marker of dependence, was linked with greater perceived cessation difficulty and lower confidence in quitting. These findings suggest that there is a need for cessation and relapse prevention support for college student JUUL users.
Keywords: ENDS; e-cigarettes; electronic nicotine delivery systems; fourth generation; health policy; interventions; nicotine; opportunity; smoking control; strategies; young adults.