Prevalence and correlates of past 30-day dual-vaping of nicotine and cannabis among adolescents in five New England states

Abstract

Significance: Adolescent vaping behavior includes vaping of multiple substances, including both nicotine and cannabis (dual-vaping). This study describes the prevalence and the sociodemographic correlates of past 30-day dual-vaping.

Methods: We recruited adolescents ages 13-17 from five New England states (Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont, New Hampshire) through the Prodege online survey panel from April 2021 to August 2022. Dual-vaping was defined as vaping both nicotine and cannabis (THC and/or CBD) in the past 30-days. We analyzed the prevalence of sole-nicotine, sole-cannabis, and dual-vaping of nicotine and cannabis and used multinomial logistic regression to examine associations between sociodemographic factors and sole- and dual-vaping of nicotine and cannabis.

Results: The analytic sample included 2013 observations from 1858 participants (mean age 15.1 years, 46.2% female, 74.1% White, 82.2% heterosexual). Among these observations, 5.6% reported past 30-day sole-nicotine vaping, 5.5% reported sole-cannabis vaping, and 7.3% had dual-vaped. Correlates for higher odds of past 30-day dual-vaping included total social media sites used and household tobacco use, in contrast with sole-cannabis vaping, which included older age and self-reported depression (all p's <0.05).

Discussion: Adolescent past 30-day dual-vaping of nicotine and cannabis was more prevalent than past 30-day sole-vaping of either nicotine or cannabis alone. Future studies should continue to collect detailed data on the type of substances, besides nicotine, that adolescents are vaping.

Keywords: Cannabis; E-cigarettes; Nicotine; Vaping.