Patterns And Correlates Of Tobacco Use Among Young Adults At College And University

Author : Jessica Braymiller
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (111 download)

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Download or read book Epidemiology of Nicotine Use Among Adolescents and Young Adults in the United States written by Jessica Braymiller and published by . This book was released on 2019 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 2014, electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS, also referred to as vaping or e-cigarette use) surpassed combustible cigarettes as the most commonly used tobacco product among youth. This is a critical public health concern as early onset of ENDS use has been linked to subsequent initiation of cigarettes and other tobacco products. Among adolescents and young adults who have used tobacco, the use of two or more products is also quite common. However, detailed information regarding specific patterns and trends in use within the context of increasingly popular ENDS is lacking. The current dissertation aimed to address this critical gap in three ways. First, chapter one reviews the distinguishing features of a variety of vaping devices, as well as the correlates and consequences associated with their use among adolescents and young adults. Next, chapters two and three empirically examine national patterns and age-trends in the use of ENDS and other nicotine delivery systems. Finally, sociodemographic differences in these patterns and trends, as well as the association between nicotine and marijuana use, are examined. The first empirical study examined nuanced age-trends in recent combustible cigarette, ENDS, and hookah use continuously from ages 14 to 24. Age-varying associations between marijuana use and each tobacco product were also examined. Data were from Wave 3 of the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) Study. The prevalence of past 30-day cigarette, ENDS, hookah, and marijuana use followed distinct age-trends. Cigarette and ENDS use were also significantly related to recent marijuana use across most ages. The association between ENDS and marijuana use was strongest at ages 14 and 15, whereas the association between cigarette and marijuana use was strongest at age 17. Age-varying prevalence estimates, as well as the age-varying association between ENDS and marijuana, differed by sex and race/ethnicity. The second empirical study examined patterns and transitions in lifetime nicotine use among young adults ages 18 to 24 using latent class and latent transition analysis (LCA, LTA). Data were from Wave 1 and Wave 2 of the PATH Study. LCA demonstrated that young adults were best represented by five distinct patterns of use: ENDS Only (2%), Hookah Only (10%), Cigarettes Only (19%), Combustibles Only (23%), and Poly, No Smokeless (45%). Differences in latent class membership emerged based on sex and race/ethnicity; the proportion of males and NH white young adults were highest in the ENDS only, Combustibles Only, and Poly, No Smokeless classes. Young adults who had ever used marijuana were also more prevalent within the Combustibles Only and Poly, No Smokeless classes. Young adults in the Combustibles Only class at Wave 1 had a 31% chance of starting to use ENDS by Wave 2. Young adults in the Poly, No Hookah class at Wave 1 had an 11% chance of starting to use hookah by Wave 2. Overall, this dissertation highlights the importance of research examining ENDS, polytobacco, and marijuana use among young people. Innovative statistical techniques provided added insight into who is at risk for using specific nicotine delivery systems at what age, as well as the factors contributing to polytobacco use and co-use with other drugs. Detailed information of this kind is necessary in order to prevent nicotine addiction and the associated health consequences, and to reduce overall burden of nicotine-related illnesses on the United States.