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. 2017 Jan;3(1):10-16.
doi: 10.18001/TRS.3.1.2. Epub 2017 Jan 1.

Sources of electronic cigarette acquisition among adolescents in Connecticut

Grace Kong  1 , Meghan E Morean  2 , Dana A Cavallo  1 , Deepa R Camenga  1 , Suchitra Krishnan-Sarin  1
Affiliations

Sources of electronic cigarette acquisition among adolescents in Connecticut

Grace Kong et al. Tob Regul Sci. 2017 Jan.

Abstract

Objectives: We examined sources of e-cigarette acquisition among youth, and changes in these sources, between 2014 and 2015. We also assessed whether youth were ever refused the sale of e-cigarettes.

Methods: Anonymous, cross-sectional surveys conducted in five high schools in 2014 and 2015 in Connecticut assessed demographics, e-cigarette and cigarette use, and e-cigarette acquisition sources (friends/boyfriends/girlfriends, tobacco shops, siblings, online, parents/adult family members, other). We restricted analyses to adolescents younger than 18 years old who had used e-cigarettes in the past month (2014: N = 400, 2015: N = 390).

Results: Top sources of e-cigarette acquisition were friends (2014: 50.2%, 2015: 45.4%), tobacco shops (2014: 17.5%, 2015: 12.6%), and online shops (2014: 9.8%, 2015: 10.5%). A multilevel model, controlling for sex, age, and cigarette smoking status, while clustering by schools showed a decrease in the proportion of youth obtaining e-cigarettes from friends (AOR = .84) between 2014 and 2015. In 2015, 69.8% and 85.8% purchased e-cigarettes from a physical store and an online store, respectively.

Conclusions: Peers were the most popular source of e-cigarette acquisition. Many adolescents were able to purchase e-cigarettes from commercial sources. Future studies should continue to conduct surveillance of where adolescents obtain e-cigarettes to inform prevention strategies.

Keywords: adolescents; electronic cigarettes; policy; prevention; regulation; youth.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest Statement All authors of this article declare they have no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Sources of E-cigarette Acquisition among Past-30-Day E-cigarette Users in 2014 and 2015. Note: Vape shop was only assessed in 2015. Participants were asked to select all of the response options as applicable to indicate their usual source of e-cigarette acquisition, so the percentages do not add to 100%.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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