Mark Lucherini Research Fellow, Centre for Population Health Sciences, University of Edinburgh
Abstract
This paper presents findings from a qualitative study which explores the perceptions of e-cigarettes held by young adults (aged 16-24) from disadvantaged communities in Scotland. Small friendship group interviews were undertaken with over 60 participants between September 2015 and April 2016. There was considerable diversity in participants’ opinions about and experiences of e-cigarettes. Most participants were smokers or ex-smokers and so often considered e-cigarettes in relation to smoking cessation. Some had successfully quit smoking using e-cigarettes and others expressed their intention to try to stop smoking with e-cigarettes. Many others had tried e-cigarettes but had mixed beliefs about their effectiveness in helping to stop smoking.
This paper considers three main findings which help understand the views of the participants. The first is the participants’ wariness of replacing one addiction with another. The second is the perceived inability of e-cigarettes to fulfil the social, cultural and physiological value of cigarettes in participants’ lives. The final finding is the perceived increasing normalisation of e-cigarette use among disadvantaged young adults, with participants noting how e-cigarettes have evolved from smoking cessation to lifestyle devices.
This research provides important insights into what disadvantaged young adults believe about vaping and its relation to smoking.
