New Policy Study Focuses on Tobacco Prevention and Reduction in Virginia Youth

Anonymous — Thu, 13 Jan 2022 20:17:51 +0000

New Policy Study Focuses on Tobacco Prevention and Reduction in Virginia Youth Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 01/13/2022 - 15:17

In This Story

Hong Xue, PhD

New three-year study seeks to understand the effects of policy tools and prevention strategies on youth tobacco use

Youth smoking remains a significant public health problem in the U.S. and in Virginia. According to the Centers for Disease Control, in 2019, 22.5 percent of Virginia high school youth reported currently using any tobacco product, including e-cigarettes.

Hong Xue, PhD

Hong Xue, PhD, associate professor in the Department of Health Administration and Policy, is conducting a novel simulation modeling study of youth smoking and prevention on the effects of policy and prevention strategies on the use of conventional and e-cigarettes in Virginia adolescents.

Xue and his interdisciplinary research team including Co-investigator Dr. Xiaoquan Zhao, professor in Mason’s Department of Communication, will address regulatory actions, marketing influences, and communications related to youth tobacco prevention and control. The team will examine the effects of tobacco retail regulations, estimate the effects of fiscal policy tools on conventional and e-cigarettes, and test social media-based tobacco prevention strategies and evaluate the impact on tobacco use, knowledge, beliefs, and behavior in Virginia youth.

“Our findings will support the efforts to advance legislative issues in Virginia and at the federal level for smoking prevention and control,” says Xue. Research results will also inform public health and social media strategies aimed at youth.

This research is funded by a $450,000 grant from the Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth. The research team includes faculty and experts from ��AV, Virginia Commonwealth University, the College of William and Mary, Georgetown University, and Georgia State University.

Topics

Child and Adolescent Health

Study Shows Link between Using Snapchat and Vaping in College Students

John Brandon Cantrell — Tue, 14 Sep 2021 13:05:03 +0000

Study Shows Link between Using Snapchat and Vaping in College Students John Brandon C… Tue, 09/14/2021 - 09:05

In This Story

Hong Xue, PhD

Alison Evans Cuellar, PhD, MBA

Lawrence J. Cheskin, MD

Each additional hour per day spent on Snapchat associated with a 4.61% increase in the probability of lifetime e-cigarette use.

Xue and his colleagues found that college-age e-cigarette users who spent more time on Snapchat had a higher prevalence of lifetime e-cigarette use as well as an increased frequency of e-cigarette use in the past 30 days. Photo Credit: Thought Catalog on Unsplash

As the Food and Drug Administration begins to issue rulings on the marketing and sale of e-cigarette products, health researchers are seeking more information on what influence, if any, social media use might have on vaping, especially among college students.

In a first-of-its-kind study, Associate Professor Hong Xue and Professors Alison Cuellar and Lawrence Cheskin in ��AV’s College of Health and Human Services, and colleagues examined associations between the amount of time spent on specific social media sites and the use of both e-cigarettes and traditional cigarettes.

While most of the social media platforms reviewed in the study showed no significant association with vaping, Xue and his colleagues did find that college-age e-cigarette users who spent more time on Snapchat did have a higher prevalence of lifetime e-cigarette use as well as an increased frequency of e-cigarette use in the past 30 days.

College-age e-cigarette users who are occasional or regular vapers spend an average of just over two hours a day on Snapchat, according to the study. Non-users, on the other hand, spend less than an hour each day on the app. The study also found that each extra hour on Snapchat was associated with a 4.61 percent increase in likelihood of lifetime e-cigarette use.

“Our findings provide evidence of the important role that social media may play in promoting engagement in risky health behaviors for young adults, such as e-cigarette use,” says Xue. “Scientific evidence is urgently needed to inform interventions and policies that can reverse the trend.”

While traditional tobacco use among young people has declined over the years, estimates from the 2019 National Youth Tobacco Survey showed that more than one in four high school students were current e-cigarette users. Those students, now in college, are also heavy social media users. A 2018 Pew Research Center study showed that 75 percent of young adults had used Instagram and 73 percent used Snapchat, with more than three-fourths of users aged 18 to 29 reporting that they use the apps daily.

The study also examined whether social media might influence traditional cigarette use. The research team did not find an association between cigarette smoking and any of the major platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, and Instagram.

The research team used data from the Mason: Health Starts Here cohort study for their observational study. The study included 298 first-year college students at a large state university. In addition to Cuellar, Cheskin, and Xue, the research team included Shuo-Yu Lin, Xiaolu Cheng, Matthew Rossheim, and Dustin Gress.

Topics

Social Media

Health Administration