Exposure to e-cigarette content on social media and e-cigarette use: An ecological momentary assessment study

Pallav Pokhrel; Kristina T Phillips; Crissy T Kawamoto; Rachel Taketa; Kayzel J Tabangcura; Amanda Yoshioka-Maxwell; Ian Pagano

doi:10.1016/j.abrep.2021.100368

Exposure to e-cigarette content on social media and e-cigarette use: An ecological momentary assessment study

Addict Behav Rep. 2021 Jul 9:14:100368. doi: 10.1016/j.abrep.2021.100368. eCollection 2021 Dec.

Authors

Pallav Pokhrel¹, Kristina T Phillips², Crissy T Kawamoto¹, Rachel Taketa¹, Kayzel J Tabangcura¹, Amanda Yoshioka-Maxwell³, Ian Pagano¹

Affiliations

¹ University of Hawaii Cancer Center, University of Hawaii at Manoa, 701 Ilalo St., Honolulu, HI 96813, USA.
² Center for Integrated Health Care Research, Kaiser Permanente Hawaii, 501 Alakawa Street, Suite 201, Honolulu, HI 96817, USA.
³ Department of Social Work, Thompson School of Social Work and Public Health, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA.

Abstract

This pilot ecological momentary assessment (EMA) study tested the associations between exposure to anti-e-cigarette content on social media and e-cigarette use behavior. For exposure to anti-e-cigarette posts, participants were asked to follow the study account on Instagram, on which anti-e-cigarette content were posted regularly. In addition, we assessed participants' exposure to pro-e-cigarette content in their daily lives and examined the effects of such exposure on behavior. Participants were 29 diverse young adult current e-cigarette users (18-30 year olds; 54% women), who provided data 3 times daily, for 3 weeks via a mobile phone based EMA application. Relative to no exposure, exposure to anti-e-cigarette content was associated with decreased recent e-cigarette use frequency at the next assessment time-point (p < 0.05; 2-tailed). In addition, a statistically significant concurrent association was found between exposure to pro-e-cigarette content (relative to no exposure) and higher e-cigarette use (p < 0.05; 2-tailed). The current data are some of the first to show that exposure to anti-e-cigarette content on social media may have real time effects on decreased e-cigarette use among young adults as they go about their daily lives. Policies and efforts designed to regulate pro-e-cigarette and promote anti-e-cigarette content on social media may help reduce e-cigarette use among young people.

Keywords: E-cigarette; Ecological momentary assessment; Social media; Young adults.

Abstract

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