Elsevier

Journal of Adolescent Health

Volume 65, Issue 3, September 2019, Pages 359-365
Journal of Adolescent Health

Original article
Ethnic Differences in Patterns of Cigarette and E-Cigarette Use Over Time Among Adolescents

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2019.04.002Get rights and content

Abstract

Purpose

Little is known about whether adolescent cigarette and e-cigarette use patterns over time differ by ethnicity.

Methods

Data were pooled from three prospective cohort studies of adolescents in California and Connecticut (baseline: 2013–2014; 12-month follow-up: 2014–2015; N = 6,258). Adjusted polytomous regression models evaluated the association of baseline exclusive ever e-cigarette use, exclusive ever cigarette use, ever use of both e-cigarettes and cigarettes (dual use) with past 30-day use at follow-up (exclusively e-cigarettes, exclusively cigarettes, dual use; no use at baseline/follow-up were the referent groups). Interaction analyses evaluated differences by race/ethnicity (Hispanic white [HW], non-Hispanic white [NHW], Other).

Results

A significant global interaction was observed for the association of baseline with follow-up tobacco use by ethnicity (p = .009). Among NHW participants, ever e-cigarette or cigarette users at baseline (vs. never users) had significantly higher odds of every past 30-day use tobacco use pattern at follow-up. Among HW participants, compared with never users, exclusive e-cigarette users at baseline had increased odds of continued e-cigarette use (ORexclusive e-cigarettes = 5.22; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 3.50, 7.79; ORdual use = 3.64; 95% CI: 1.62, 8.18) but not of transition to exclusive cigarette use at follow-up (ORexclusive cigarettes = 1.27; 95% CI: .47, 3.46), and HW exclusive cigarette users at baseline had greater odds of continued cigarette use (ORexclusive e-cigarettes = 12.3; 95% CI: 5.87, 25.8; ORdual use = 3.82; 95% CI: 1.06, 13.7) but not of transition to exclusive e-cigarette use at follow-up (ORexclusive cigarettes = 1.61; 95% CI: .62, 4.18).

Conclusions

Findings that NHW youth report more transitional use patterns and HW youth report more stable use patterns suggest a potential for differential impacts of e-cigarettes, by ethnicity, in increasing subsequent transition to or cessation from cigarette smoking.

Section snippets

Participants

Data were pooled from three cohorts of adolescents and young adults from the University of Southern California and Yale University Tobacco Centers of Regulatory Science, including the Southern California Children's Health Study (CHS) [23], [24], Happiness & Health Project (H&H) [13], and Yale Adolescent Survey Study (YASS) [25], [26], as described previously [27]. In the present study, we used data from Fall 2013 to Spring 2015 (baseline) and follow-up data collected in each study approximately

Results

The three studies included slightly more females than males (Table 1). In the CHS and H&H studies, just under 50% of the study sample was Hispanic white; in the YASS, approximately 5% of the study sample was Hispanic white. The CHS included participants in grades 11–12 at baseline; H&H included participants in grade 9 at baseline; YASS included participants in grades 9–12 at baseline. No differences in gender, race/ethnicity, or grade were observed for participants who did (vs. did not)

Discussion

Baseline prevalence of ever use of cigarettes or e-cigarettes was higher in Hispanic white participants than in non-Hispanic white participants. In contrast, at follow-up, the prevalence of past 30-day use of cigarettes or e-cigarettes was higher in non-Hispanic white participants than in Hispanic white participants. This finding is consistent with existing literature that suggests that Hispanic white youth are more likely to experiment with tobacco products, but that non-Hispanic white youth

Acknowledgments

Authors' contributions: J.L.B.-T. formulated the research question, interpreted the results, wrote and edited the article, and approved the article as submitted. She is guarantor. F.L. and M.M. contributed to formulating the research question, conducted the analyses, interpreted the results, edited the article, and approved the article as submitted. G.K., T.B.C., and M.S.B. contributed to formulating the research question, interpretation of results and to editing the manuscript, and approved

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    Conflicts of interest: The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

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