Nicotine vaping for relaxation and coping: Race/ethnicity differences and social connectedness mechanisms.

The current study examined race- and ethnicity-based differences in the reasons that youth report for vaping, with an emphasis on understanding the relationship between race/ethnicity and vaping for relaxation and stress/anxiety coping. This work also sought to go beyond examining race-based differences as a cause of tobacco-use disparities by assessing social connectedness factors that mediate relationships between race/ethnicity and vaping for relaxation and coping. Research questions were tested using data from the 2019-2020 California Student Tobacco Survey, a representative school-based survey of 10th and 12th grade public school students throughout schools in California.

Vaping identity in adolescent e-cigarette users: A comparison of norms, attitudes, and behaviors.

Introduction: Using the tenets underlying social identity theory and the theory of planned behavior, the current study compared the perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors of e-cigarette users that reported vaping as self-defining ("vapers") compared to users that denied vaping was central to their identity ("non-vapers").

Method: Secondary analyses of data from the 2017-2018 California Student Tobacco Survey were utilized. A weighted, multivariable regression model (N = 82,217) compared the demographic characteristics, beliefs, and behaviors of vapers and non-vapers.