Protective Factors Can Reduce Vaping in U.S. Teens

Positive future orientation and high parental monitoring are associated with a significantly lower prevalence of recent vaping among U.S. high school students, according to a study published in the Aug. 1 issue of Pediatrics.

Nicholas Szoko, M.D., from the UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, and colleagues conducted a school-based health risk and protective behavior survey of ninth through 12th graders in Pittsburgh (2,487 students; mean age, 15.7 years) to assess recent vaping.

The researchers found that 27 percent of respondents reported recent vaping. There was a significantly lower prevalence of recent vaping associated with positive future orientation (adjusted prevalence ratio, 0.84) and high parental monitoring (adjusted prevalence ratio, 0.73). No significant relationships were seen between vaping and social support or school connectedness. The four evaluated protective factors were significantly inversely related to other forms of tobacco use, but no factors were significantly associated with intent to quit tobacco products.

"Inverse associations observed between protective factors and multiple forms of tobacco use, including vaping, suggest that strengths-based interventions to foster these assets in young people and their parental supports may help prevent use of vaping products," the authors write.