Network Influences on E-cigarette Use
Tom Valente, Victoria Banyard, Emily Waterman, Shin Hee-Sung, Katie Edwards
“Tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable disease and death in the United States; nearly all tobacco product use begins during youth and young adulthood”1,2 thus making it a pressing public and adolescent health concern.3 Adolescent friendship networks influence adolescents’ initiation and continued use of tobacco products.4-9 While the role of peer networks has been well established for combustible cigarette use, there are no studies (to our knowledge) that have studied the role of friendship networks on e-cigarette (vaping) use. Data from approximately 1,700 students in one school district are used to illustrate the association between e-cig use and friends’ e-cig use, exposure. Cross-sectional results show that there is a strong association between use and friend use using both regression and ERGM models. One year longitudinal data have been collected but not yet analyzed.← Schedule