Young adult peer crowds, e-cigarette advertising exposure, and e-cigarette use: Test of a mediation model

Abstract

Background: Young people often make lifestyle choices or engage in behaviors, including tobacco product use, based on the norms of peer crowds they affiliate with. Peer crowds are defined as reputation-based peer groups centered around lifestyle norms (e.g., Hipster, Surfer, Hip Hop). This study examined the effects of peer crowd affiliation on e-cigarette use via increased exposure to e-cigarette advertising and increased social network e-cigarette use.

Method: Data were collected from 1398 ethnically diverse young adults (Mean age = 22.3; SD = 3.2; 62% women) in six-month intervals over one year. Path analyses were used to test a mediation model in which advertising exposure and social network e-cigarette use at six-month follow-up were specified to mediate the effects of baseline peer crowd affiliation on current e-cigarette use at one-year follow-up.

Results: Affiliations with Popular-Social and Alternative peer crowds at baseline were associated with higher e-cigarette advertising exposure at six-month follow-up. Affiliation with Popular-Social peer crowd at baseline was associated with increased social network e-cigarette use at six-month follow-up. Affiliation with Popular-Social peer crowds at baseline was found to have a statistically significant indirect effect on increased e-cigarette use at one-year follow-up via increased e-cigarette advertising exposure at six-month follow-up.

Conclusions: Better understanding Popular-Social peer crowds may be highly relevant for development of tailored media and other interventions for e-cigarette use prevention among young adults.

Keywords: Advertising; E-cigarette; Peer crowds; Social network; Young adults.

Figure 1.

Longitudinal associations among peer crowd affiliation at baseline, e-cigarette marketing and social network e-cigarette use at six-month follow-up, and past-30-day e-cigarette use at one-year follow-up. Rectangles represent manifest variables. Straight arrows represent regression paths as specified in the model. Curved arrow represents co-variance. Numbers represent standardized path coefficients or covariance. For simplicity of presentation, only statistically significant paths are shown. The model adjusted for age, sex, weekly hours of work for pay at baseline, ethnicity (Asian, Filipino, Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander, Other ethnicity dummy-coded with reference to White), baseline sensation seeking, baseline e-cigarette marketing exposure, baseline social network e-cigarette use, and current e-cigarette and cigarette smoking at baseline. For clarity of presentation, covariates and paths from covariates to mediators and the criterion variable are not shown in the figure. Path coefficients for the paths from covariates to the mediator and the criterion variables are presented in Table 2.