Exploring Adolescent Vaping Behavior: A Social Bond Theory Perspective

• In Event: 30461 - Section on Children and Youth Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 3. Kids' Health and Wellbeing

Abstract

E-cigarette vaping has become a predominant drug use behavior among adolescents in the United States in the last decade. Although various empirical studies have explored individual factors influencing vaping, little research using an integrated theoretical framework to explain this behavior exists. My research seeks to address this gap by applying Hirschi's social bond theory to understand factors influencing the likelihood of vaping nicotine among adolescents. I conducted a secondary analysis of 2021 data collected in "Monitoring the Future: A Continuing Study of American Youth (8th to 10th-Grade Survey).” Using logistic regression models, I evaluated the relative importance of each element of the social bond--attachment, involvement, commitment, and belief--on vaping likelihood and explore how these relationships may vary depending on gender, race and grade level. Results generally support the hypothesized relationships between vaping and attachment, commitment and belief. The relationship between involvement and vaping appears to depend on the nature of the activity in which teens are involved, with supervised activities associated with a decrease in vaping likelihood and unsupervised, social activities associated with an increase in vaping. The analysis also uncovers different patterns of vaping behavior by gender. My investigation contributes to the existing evaluations of Hirschi’s theory and, by offering a deeper understanding of the factors driving adolescent vaping, may inform prevention tactics and intervention efforts.

Authors

• Tayana Malewschik, University of Florida

• Marian Borg