Beliefs about electronic cigarettes among university population

abstract

The marked increase in the use of e-cigarettes among young university students has reached levels comparable to traditional tobacco use. This situation has raised health concerns due to the harmful effects associated with their use. Among the main factors associated with the use of e-cigarettes is the lack of knowledge that this group has about their effects. Therefore, this article explores misconceptions in a sample of university students, based on their tobacco and/or cannabis use, as well as their use of vapers. A total of 366 students from the University of Valencia were interviewed, 60.4% were women, with an average age of 20.35 years. The main belief that led them to use these devices, regardless of gender and type of consumption, was that vaping is fashionable. They are followed by others related to the benefits of this new form of consumption and its effects: they help not to smell of smoke, they are pleasant, with many flavours to choose from, they do not disturb other people around them, they lower anxiety and they help to reduce/quit smoking. All of these have been shown to be significantly higher among users of any substance and among vapers. The results obtained allow us to identify the areas where there is a greater lack of information about these devices, favouring the design of preventive interventions more adapted to the reality of this population.

Keywords:

Vapers, e-cigarrillos, universitarios, creencias, prevención.

View PDF in Spanish

Authors

José Antonio Giménez-Costa - Dpto de Psicología Básica, Facultad de Psicología y Logopedia, Universitat de València, España
Patricia Motos-Sellés - Dpto de Psicología Básica, Facultad de Psicología y Logopedia, Universitat de València, España
María Teresa Cortés-Tomás - Dpto de Psicología Básica, Facultad de Psicología y Logopedia, Universitat de València, España

Financing

No funding declared

DOI

https:// doi.org/10.54108/10109