E-Cigarette Use and Mental Health – Social Media & Teens

Researchers from Pennsylvania explored the relevance of indicators of mental health disorders in the association between social media use and e-cigarette use among children in a recent study published in the Journal of Affective Disorders. They discovered that anxiety and depression symptoms moderate the link between juvenile social media use and e-cigarette use.

Background

E-cigarettes, the most popular tobacco product among the country’s young, are used by around 2.55 million school kids in the United States (US). While e-cigarettes can help smokers quit, they also contain nicotine and other harmful substances linked to lung and cardiovascular disease. Because of the youth’s considerable use of social media, e-cigarette manufacturers are heavily pushed through social media platforms, portraying e-cigarettes as ostensibly superior alternatives to smoking. As a result, past research has found that social media users are more likely to use e-cigarettes than non-users.

Increased experimentation and usage of e-cigarettes in youth has also been linked to mental health problems. According to research, e-cigarette users are more prone to suffer from mental health disorders such as sadness and stress. Furthermore, past research indicates that social media has a greater impact on female mental health than males. However, there has been little research into the possible influence of mental health condition indicators on the association between social media use and e-cigarette use among young. As a result, the purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that indicators of mental health status may mediate the increased use of e-cigarettes related with social media use among teenagers, while also looking for potential gender-based differences in the mediation.

About the Study

The 2022 National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS) data, which estimates tobacco usage among US middle and high school students, was used. The study comprised around 23,445 students, and data was collected through online forms. Females made up 49.9% of the sample. The pupils were either non-Hispanic White (55.7%), Hispanic (25.6%), non-Hispanic Black (11.8%), or non-Hispanic Other (8.9%). The primary outcome was the usage of e-cigarettes in the previous 30 days. Furthermore, social media use was classified as “never” (never used social media), “sometimes” (less than once per week or 1-2 hours daily), “often” (3-4 hours daily), and “very often” (>4 hours daily). The Patient Health Questionnaire-4 (PHQ-4) is used to assess mental health indices (an established screening tool for anxiety and depression) was used.

The possible outcomes framework was used to investigate the mediation of the link between social media use and e-cigarette use by participants by mental health condition indicators. A gender-stratified analysis was also performed to better understand the likely disparities between the two genders.

Results and Discussion

Individuals who used social media “very often” were more likely to use e-cigarettes than those who used social media “sometimes” or “never” (odds ratio (OR) = 1.41). When the results were corrected for individual characteristics and mental health state indicators as a mediator, the likelihood of smoking e-cigarettes was higher (OR = 1.57) and statistically significant in “very often” social media users.

Gender-stratified research indicates that social media use had substantial effects on e-cigarette use via mental health condition indicators, with the effects being more pronounced in females (OR = 2.27) than males (OR = 1.53). Using mental health condition indicators, female students who use social media “often” or “very often” were found to be more likely to use e-cigarettes.

The findings of this study are consistent with previous research and suggest that excessive social media use may harm the mental health of the young population, potentially leading to greater use of e-cigarettes. The findings supports methods and guidelines aimed at limiting young people’s usage of social media.

While this is the first study to relate mental health indicators, social media use, and e-cigarette use among young people, it is constrained by the fact that the indicators, which include anxiety and depression, were self-reported by the participants. Future research might include non-school-aged youth and look into the molecular factors underpinning the gender differences reported in this study.

Conclusion

Finally, this study describes the impact of mental health condition indicators, such as depression and anxiety, in the link between social media use and e-cigarette use among school-aged kids in the United States. The report emphasizes the growing public health concerns about social media use. It underlines that increased social media use, particularly among young, may have a negative influence on their physical and mental health.

For more information: Social media and e-cigarette use: The mediating role of mental health conditions, Journal of Affective Disorders

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2023.10.053