Conditional Risk Assessment of Adolescents' Electronic Cigarette Perceptions

OBJECTIVES: To adapt an established instrument for measuring adolescents' cigarette-related perceptions for new application with electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes). METHODS: In this exploratory study, 104 male high school students (40% tobacco ever-users) estimated the probability of potential e-cigarette risks (eg, lung cancer) or benefits (eg, look cool). We calculated associations between risk/benefit composite scores, ever-use, and use intention for e-cigarettes, and analogously, for combustible cigarettes. RESULTS: E-cigarette ever-use was associated with lower perceived risks, with adjusted differences versus never-users greater for e-cigarettes than for cigarettes. Risk composite score was inversely associated, and benefit score positively associated, with e-cigarette ever-use and use intention. CONCLUSION: Conditional risk assessment characterized adolescents' perceived e-cigarette risk/benefit profile, with potential utility for risk-perception measurement in future studies.