The article, “The Association of Vaping With Social/Emotional Health and Attitudes Toward COVID-19 Mitigation Measures in Adolescent and Young Adult Cohorts During the COVID-19 Pandemic,” has been published in SAj in Volume 44 Issue 1-2.
In this commentary, the authors state that vaping is a major health risk behavior which often occurs socially. Limited social activity during the COVID-19 pandemic contributed to worsening social and emotional health. The authors investigated associations among youth vaping, and reports of worsening mental health, loneliness, and relationships with friends and romantic partners (ie, social health), as well as perceived attitudes toward COVID-19 mitigation measures.
In the AUTHORS’ OWN WORDS, they relate the importance of their work:
“We found that vaping among AYA was associated with larger perceived negative impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic on emotional wellbeing and greater levels of other substance use. We found no evidence that vaping was protective against experiencing loneliness or worsening social relationships during the COVID-19 pandemic. Further, we found that youth who vaped were less likely to adhere to non-pharmaceutical measures put in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19 compared to their non-vaping AYA peers.”
“Overall, vaping has been associated with a variety of health problems among AYA and while vaping may be a social activity, we found no evidence that it was protective of social/emotional health during the pandemic. On the contrary, while cross-sectional analyses cannot determine causation, vaping appears to be an indicator of increased risk for other substance use, mood, eating, and sleep disorders. Moreover, youth who vape may be more likely to forgo protective strategies such as social distancing and masking, even when they view those measures as being important. As such, health care providers involved in the care of AYA should screen for vaping and related co-occurring risk behaviors and health problems to take advantage of the opportunity to also identify and treat substance use and possible co-occurring disorders.”