Self-reported reasons for vaping among 8th, 10th, and 12th graders in the US: Nationally-representative results.
The study describes the most common reasons for using vaporizers (such as e-cigarettes) among US adolescents and investigates how reasons for use differ by grade, lifetime cigarette use, frequency of vaporizer use, gender, race/ethnicity, and parent education.



Data were collected from 4066 students in the 8th, 10th, and 12th grades in 2015 as part of the Monitoring the Future study, a cross-sectional and nationally representative US survey.



Common reasons for vaporizer use reported by respondents who had ever used a vaporizer were experimentation (53.0%), taste (37.2%), boredom (23.5%), having a good time (22.4%), and relaxation (21.6%). Reasons differed little across grades or parent education; reasons differed by lifetime use of regular cigarettes, frequency of vaping, gender, and race/ethnicity.



Overall, results suggest that decisions to vape are based on curiosity, taste, and pleasure, rather than for reasons such as quitting regular cigarettes or substituting for regular cigarette smoking.
Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, 426 Thompson Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1248, USA. Electronic address: meganpat@umich.edu.
Megan E
ME
Patrick
Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, 426 Thompson Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1248, USA.
Richard A
RA
Miech
Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, 426 Thompson Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1248, USA.
Carola
C
Carlier
Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, 426 Thompson Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1248, USA.
Patrick M
PM
O'Malley
Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, 426 Thompson Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1248, USA.
Lloyd D
LD
Johnston
Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, 426 Thompson Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1248, USA; Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, 530 Church Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1043, USA.
John E
JE
Schulenberg
D000293:Adolescent; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D066300:Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems / Q000639:trends; D005106:Exploratory Behavior; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D057181:Pleasure; D057566:Self Report; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology* / Q000639:trends; D016540:Smoking Cessation / Q000379:methods / Q000523:psychology; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D000072137:Vaping / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000639:trends
Adolescents; Electronic cigarettes; Reasons; Vaporizers; e-Cigarettes