Research on Influencing Factors and Intervention Strategies of Adolescent E-cigarette Use Behaviors

Abstract

Peer interaction, online media exposure and adequate parental and school supervision are the basis of adolescent e-cigarette diffusion that has become a public health issue. Although there is increasing research on the behaviour of young people's vaping, most studies use traditional questionnaire analysis and lack a dynamic simulation of the spreading process and quantification of a hierarchical influence of multi-source risk. In addition, the interactions between various intervention strategies on the size and timing of the peak of the epidemic have not been sufficiently studied. This study is designed to discover the behavioral mechanism of the transmission of e-cigarette use among adolescents and to examine the efficacy of multi-dimensional intervention measures. The method used was a mixed-method by using a questionnaire to investigate 50 senior high school students and a SIR-ABM hybrid simulation model. Descriptive statistical analysis was applied to the adolescent risk cognition, behavioral gaps and vaping willingness. Parameter sensitivity analysis and multi-scenario simulations were also carried out to determine the key factors and to analyze the differences of intervention results. Results show that there is a knowledge-action gap among adolescents which means that a high level of hazard knowledge does not necessarily translate into action. Sensitivity analysis reveals that peer exposure is the most important driver of e-cigarette diffusion, family and school factors have a modest protective effect; single intervention strategies have a modest effect on reducing infection peaks and lengthening the time for the epidemic peak, but can lead to a delay in the peak and an increase in the duration of transmission; standalone media intervention can delay the epidemic peak and increase the duration of transmission.