Cross-sectional survey reveals high harm awareness but persistent marketing-driven appeal among adolescents, highlighting the need for advertising restrictions.
Key Points
To examine Australian adolescents' perceptions of vaping risks and harms, explore their attitudes toward e-cigarettes, and identify associated demographic and social factors.
Analyzed data from a 2022–2023 cross-sectional, school-based survey of secondary students aged 12–17 years in Victoria, Australia (unweighted n = 1,696; weighted n = 1,701).
Fitted multivariable logistic regression models testing associations between attitudes or harm perceptions and predictors including age, gender, socioeconomic status, peer vaping, vaping susceptibility, and marketing exposure.
Most students agreed that vaping is harmful and addictive (≥ 86%) and that e-cigarettes contain nicotine and harmful chemicals, though fewer (69%) agreed secondhand vapor affects health.
Harm perceptions were significantly higher among females versus males and lower among past-month vapers versus non-susceptible never-vapers.
Favorable attitudes toward e-cigarettes were independently associated with younger age, peer vaping, vaping susceptibility, and past-month exposure to e-cigarette advertising.