School Connectedness and Adolescent E-cigarette Susceptibility in an Urban Sample of Middle and High School Students

April K Wilhelm; Michael D Evans; Zong Xiong; Luis Ortega; David M Vock; Geoffrey Maruyama; Michele L Allen

doi:10.1007/s11121-024-01643-4

School Connectedness and Adolescent E-cigarette Susceptibility in an Urban Sample of Middle and High School Students

Prev Sci. 2024 Jan 20. doi: 10.1007/s11121-024-01643-4. Online ahead of print.

Authors

April K Wilhelm¹, Michael D Evans², Zong Xiong³, Luis Ortega⁴, David M Vock^{2

5}, Geoffrey Maruyama⁶, Michele L Allen⁷

Affiliations

¹ Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, Program in Health Disparities Research, University of Minnesota Health, 717 Delaware St. SE, Suite 166, Minneapolis, MN, 55414, USA. awilhelm@umn.edu.
² Biostatistical Design and Analysis Center, Clinical and Translational Science Institute, University of Minnesota Health, Minneapolis, USA.
³ Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, and Biophysics, College of Biological Sciences, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, Minneapolis, USA.
⁴ SoLaHmo Partnership for Health and Wellness, Inc, Community University Health Care Center, Minneapolis, USA.
⁵ Division of Biostatistics, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota Health, Minneapolis, USA.
⁶ Department of Educational Psychology, College of Education and Human Development, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, Minneapolis, USA.
⁷ Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, Program in Health Disparities Research, University of Minnesota Health, 717 Delaware St. SE, Suite 166, Minneapolis, MN, 55414, USA.

PMID: 38244166
DOI: 10.1007/s11121-024-01643-4

Abstract

Adolescent school connectedness generally protects from risk behaviors such as tobacco use; however, its relationship to e-cigarette use is unclear. This study examines the relationship between adolescent school connectedness and e-cigarette susceptibility in a diverse longitudinal sample. This secondary analysis of a school-based intervention surveyed 608 middle (66%) and high school (34%) students from 10 schools at 3 time points over 1 year. At baseline, respondents had a mean age of 14 years, 54% were female, and 71% were BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color). Logistic regression models examined unadjusted and adjusted associations between school connectedness (both baseline and concurrent) and e-cigarette susceptibility over time. E-cigarettes represented the most prevalent form of current nicotine-containing product use in spring 2019 (2.3%), and most respondents reported no e-cigarette susceptibility (69%). E-cigarette susceptibility remained relatively stable during the study. Higher baseline school connectedness levels were associated with lower odds of e-cigarette susceptibility over time. Similarly, higher concurrent school connectedness scores were associated with lower odds of e-cigarette susceptibility over time: spring 2019 (OR, 0.39; 95% CI, 0.32, 0.47), fall 2019 (OR, 0.49; 95% CI, 0.34, 0.72), and spring 2020 (OR, 0.64; 95% CI, 0.47, 0.87). Findings were similar for middle and high school students and did not differ significantly after adjusting for other covariates. Adolescents' school connectedness appears to protect from e-cigarette susceptibility over time, underscoring the importance of promoting positive school experiences to reduce adolescent risk e-cigarette use.

Keywords: Adolescent; E-cigarettes; School connectedness.

Abstract

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