Differentiating Reasons for Young Adult E-cigarette Use Using Maximum Difference Choice Models

Abstract

Introduction: Understanding the reasons young adults use e-cigarettes (ie, vape)-and whether these motivations vary across groups-is essential for informing tobacco regulatory efforts.

Aims and methods: An online panel of young adults who vape (n = 230; age = 18-30 years) completed a maximum difference discrete choice task for 15 reasons for vaping. Over 9 choice sets, participants were presented a subset of 5 reasons and selected the most and least important. Hierarchical bayesian analysis estimated the relative importance of each reason. Latent class analysis (LCA) identified groups with similarly ranked reasons for use. Multinomial regression evaluated the association between sample characteristics and class membership.

Results: Overall, relaxation had the highest probability of being the most important reason for use (14.8%), followed by harm reduction (13.2%), and flavors (10.3%). LCA identified five distinct classes, based on top reasons for use: 1. cessation (cigarette cessation [20.2%]; n = 80); 2. dependence (relaxation [20.5%] and unable to quit [19.2%]; n = 21); 3. relaxation (relaxation [20.6%]; n = 66); 4. socializing (socializing [22.2%]; n = 27); and 5. variable (boredom [10.5%] and acceptability [10.2%]; n = 36). Participants who were older, smoked cigarettes, or vaped more frequently were more likely to belong to the cessation class while those who were younger or more e-cigarette dependent were more likely to belong to the dependence class.

Conclusions: Perceived reasons why young adults vape are highly heterogeneous and dependent on the type of user. Tobacco regulatory efforts targeting distinct types of vapers are needed to minimize the adverse public health impact of vaping without compromising appeal for smoking cessation.

Implications: E-cigarette use remains high among young adults, with flavors, cost, and harm reduction (vs. combustible cigarettes) among the mostly commonly reported reasons for use. Yet, little is known about how relatively important these reasons are to the individual. Leveraging a maximum difference task, young adults' reasons for use were evaluated on a common interval scale and groups sharing similar reasons identified. Smoking cessation, dependence, relaxation, socialization, and boredom were respectively the most important reasons for use among five classes of vapers. E-cigarette regulatory policies should consider the distinct reasons for use as to not compromise their appeal for smoking cessation.