Correlates of Ever Having Used Electronic Cigarettes Among Older Adolescent Children of Alcoholic Fathers

• NCJ Number: 249428
• Journal: Nicotine & Tobacco Research Volume: 16 Issue: 12 Dated: December 2014 Pages: 1656-1660
• Author(s): Jared Lessard; James Henrie; Jennifer A. Livingston; Kenneth E. Leonard; Craig R. Colder; Rina D. Elden
• Date Published: December 2014
• Length: 5 pages
• Grant Number(s): 2012-W9-BX-0001
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Award: Developmental Pathways of Teen Dating Violence in a High-Risk Sample

Annotation

Since few studies have examined predictors of ever having used electronic cigarettes (or e-cigarettes) among older adolescents, this study examined correlates of ever having used e-cigarettes among adolescent children of alcoholic fathers.

Abstract

The study determined that more than one-third (36.9 percent) of the participants reported ever using e-cigarettes. Parental monitoring during middle adolescence (MA) (odds ratio [OR] = 0.85, p < .05), lifetime use of cigarettes (OR = 3.88, p < .01), alcohol use (OR = 7.72, p < .05), marijuana use (OR = 4.07, p < .01), and peer substance use (OR = 1.34, p < .05) during late adolescence (LA) were each uniquely associated with ever having used e-cigarettes. Ever having used e-cigarettes also was associated with more frequent current cigarette use ( = .38, p < .05), alcohol use ( = .30, p < .01), and marijuana use ( = .31, p < .05). These results suggest that ever having used e-cigarettes in LA is a risk marker for substance use. Interventions to promote parental monitoring may be effective in curbing use of e-cigarettes and other substances in LA. Participants were 136 adolescents (50.7 percent male, 89.4 percent European American) from an ongoing longitudinal case-control study of children of alcoholic fathers. Adolescents reported on their mother's and father's parenting during middle adolescence (MA; M age = 13.8) and completed measures of their own, as well as their peers', substance use during late adolescence (LA; M age = 17.0). Parents completed measures of their own substance use at the MA assessment. (Publisher abstract modified)