Cavazos-Rehg P, Li X, Kasson E, et al. (2021). Exploring how social media exposure and interactions are associated with ENDS and tobacco use in adolescents from the PATH study. Nicotine & Tobacco Research. 23(3): 487–494. doi: 10.1093/ntr/ntaa113
Researchers used a nationally representative data set from the U.S. Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) study to examine the relationship between behavior on social media and use of electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) and tobacco among 11,279 adolescents aged 12-18 years. At the 1-year follow-up, passive behaviors on social media (e.g., exposure to content) were associated with greater likelihood of starting to use ENDS (including e-cigarettes and vaping devices) and other tobacco products. Active behaviors on social media (e.g., signing up for email alerts, reading articles online, watching a video online) were associated with higher odds of initiation and persistence of tobacco use. Participants who used social media to send information about a tobacco brand to other individuals were more likely to begin using conventional tobacco products rather than ENDS. Using social media to send tobacco-related content to other individuals was also associated with greater use of tobacco products in the past 30 days. Participants who liked or followed tobacco-related content on social media were more likely to continue use of tobacco products, compared with participants who did not like or follow tobacco-related content. Future research could explore leveraging patterns of social media use to target interventions to reduce persistent and escalated tobacco use among adolescents.