April 7-9, 2022 • Hyatt Regency • Lexington, KY
Communication Strategies to Promote Comprehensive Well-being
Communication Strategies to Promote Comprehensive Well-being
Abstract: Impact of Vaping Prevention Messages among Adolescents and Young Adults: A Meta-Analysis of Experimental Studies
Background Electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) use and vaping among adolescents and young adults is alarmingly high, which imposes significant addiction and other health risks. Vaping prevention messages are widely used to communicate the risks of e-cigarette use and discourage vaping. To examine the efficacy of these prevention messages to inform research, policy, and practice, we conducted a meta-analysis of experimental studies on e-cigarette prevention messages. Methods We conducted comprehensive searches of six electronic databases and reviewed reference lists of all included articles. We included published work and grey literature identified in our searches. To be eligible for inclusion, a study had to 1) be an experimental study, 2) have at least one vaping prevention message condition and one control condition (no message or control message), 3) focus on e-cigarette prevention (not cessation), and 4) have adolescents and/or young adults as the study sample (mean age no higher than 25 years). Our searches generated 4,451 references. After removing 2,295 duplicates, two independent coders screened all titles and abstracts for relevance, leading to 71 articles for retrieval. A full-text review of these articles resulted in a final set of 18 studies being included in the meta-analysis, the study characteristics of which were coded. Kappa’s intercoder reliability across all categories was .70; discrepancies were resolved by a third coder and through open discussion among all coders. Effect sizes (standardized mean difference, or d) were computed and combined across studies using random-effects meta-analytic procedures. Results A total of 16 outcome variables were assessed in 2 or more studies and were meta-analyzed. Compared to control, vaping prevention messages significantly increased a variety of risk perceptions: perceived likelihood of harm (d = 0.18, p < .001), perceived likelihood of addiction (d = 0.21, p < .001), harm perception (d = 0.34, p < .001), addiction perception (d = 0.39, p < .001), and perceived relative addiction compared with cigarettes (d = 0.33, p = .016). Vaping prevention messages also increased perceived message effectiveness (message perception; d = 0.51, p < .001), e-cigarette knowledge (d = 0.36, p < .001), and they decreased intentions to vape (d = -0.08, p = .03). Most effects were statistically homogenous (p < .05). There were no effects on some message outcomes, such as negative affect and cognitive elaboration. Discussion This is the first meta-analysis to examine the efficacy of vaping prevention messages. Findings suggest that vaping prevention messages increase risk perceptions and decrease intentions to vape among adolescents and young adults. Future studies should examine active ingredients of messages and rigorously evaluate the ability of vaping prevention campaigns to reduce vaping behavior among adolescents and young adults in real world settings.