Advertising and Social Factors Associated with Ends Use Among Hispanic and Non-Hispanic White College Students.

Significance: E-cigarette products have gained popularity among college students. Research suggests that peer influences, living with tobacco users, and being receptive to tobacco marketing are positively associated with tobacco use. However, there is limited research examining whether this relationship differs by ethnicity.

Methods: Participants were 2,467 Hispanic and non-Hispanic white college students (M age=20.49, SD age=2.36; 63% female) of the Marketing and Promotions across Texas (MPACT) Project. Students were recruited from 24 two- and four-year colleges in Texas. Self-reported exposure to e-cigarette or Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS) advertising was measured in Spring 2016 with one item that asked how often they saw signs marketing ENDS products at tobacco retail outlets. Response options ranged from 1= Never/not that I remember to 4= Every time. Peer e-cigarette use was measured with one item, “How many of your close friends smoke/use ENDS products?” Responses ranged from 1=None to 5=All. Household e-cigarette use was measured with one item, “ Does anyone you live with now use ENDS products?” Response options were “no” and “yes”. Finally, current ENDS use was measured by asking participants, “During the past 30 days, have you used any ENDS product (i.e. an e-cigarette, vape pen, e-hookah, or mod), even one or two puffs, as intended (i.e. with nicotine cartridges and/or e-liquid/e-juice)?” Response options included “yes” or “no”. A multivariable logistic regression model was used to examine the association between exposure to ENDS advertising, peer ENDS use, household ENDS use, and current ENDS use after six months, controlling for age sex, current ENDS use at the previous wave, and adjusting for school clustering effect. Interactions were also tested between ethnicity and all exposure variables.

Results: No significant differences were found in age, sex, friend e-cig use, self-reported e-cigarette sign exposure, and e-cigarette current use between the two groups. However, there were significant differences between non-Hispanic whites and Hispanics regarding household e-cigarette use (p<.001). Exposure to ENDS advertising (OR:1.36, CI:, p<.01), peer ENDS use (OR:1.52, CI:1.24, 1.86, p<.01) , and living with someone who uses e-cigarettes (OR: 1.88, CI:1.32, 2.71) predicted current e-cigarette use among the entire sample. Finally, there were no significant interactions between ethnicity and advertising, peer use, or living with tobacco users.

Conclusion: As no differences by ethnicity were found, this suggests that these processes may not work differently between the two groups. Therefore, interventions and policies that target all young adults and promote changes to the social and physical environment can help reduce ENDS use among this population.