Cannabis vaping among college students

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Vaping is a growing industry that has gained popularity among college students (Jones, Hill, Pardini, & Meier, 2016). Current trends indicate that college students frequently use these devices to vape cannabis (Kenne, Fischbein, Tan, & Banks, 2017). Detrimental health effects of vaping are emerging, including the cannabis vaping-related inflammatory disease referred to as Electronic-cigarette, or Vaping, Associated Lung Injury (EVALI) (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2020). Research is lacking on the perceptions and attitudes of cannabis vaping among college students. Additionally, the Integrated Behavioral Model may be useful in explaining and predicting cannabis vaping among this population. Both of the aforementioned issues are addressed in this dissertation.Purpose: This alternative dissertation includes two separate studies. The first study was a qualitative design, which was completed with the purpose of exploring factors that influence college students to initiate and continue to vaporize cannabis instead of traditional combustible cannabis practices. The second study was a result of the first and utilized a quantitative design to determine if the IBM is useful in explaining and predicting cannabis vaping among college students.Methods: (Study 1) Individual telephone interviews were conducted, transcribed, and analyzed for common themes (n=21). (Study 2) An online survey was deployed via Amazon Mechanical Turk containing 35 items to measure the primary constructs of the IBM, including Experiential Attitude, Instrumental Attitude, Injunctive Norms, Descriptive Norms, Perceived Control, Self-Efficacy, and Behavioral Intention (n=423). Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling were used to determine whether the data fit the proposed IBM model. Inclusion criteria for both studies included college undergraduates, aged 18-25, who self-reported vaping cannabis at least once in the past 30 days.Results: (Study 1) Six primary themes and eighteen subthemes were identified. Main themes included 1) Convenience, 2) Discreetness, 3) Euphoric Experience, 4) Social Acceptability, 5) Health and Safety, and 6) COVID-19 Pandemic Impact. (Study 2) Obtained fit indices confirmed that the data fit the proposed model, accounting for 54.2% of the variance. Structural equation modeling demonstrated the strongest path coefficients between Behavioral Intention and Experiential Attitude, Instrumental Attitude, Injunctive Norms, and Descriptive Norms. There was a weak, positive relationship between vaping cannabis and smoking cannabis within the sample.Conclusions: College students who use cannabis tend to both vape and smoke (dual-use), depending largely on social and physical environment. Overall, the participants tended to underestimate the risks associated with both cannabis and vaping. Additionally, the strongest predictors of vaping were descriptive norms and experiential attitude. The findings indicate that the development of interventions and educational programming specific to this demographic is warranted. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)