Does sensation-seeking behavior influence the patterns of flavored e-cigarette use? A cross-sectional study among Indonesian adolescents and young adults

BACKGROUND

The variety of available flavors in e-cigarettes may be a driver for young people to start using these products. The objectives of our study were to examine the relationship between sensation-seeking behavior and e-cigarette use, and to identify the predictors of flavor use patterns among adolescents in Indonesia.

METHODS

Students aged 15 to 24 years participated from randomly selected high schools and universities in Indonesia. Participants answered questions about their demographic data, e-cigarette use, conventional cigarette use, and sensation-seeking. Flavor preferences were identified from eight different flavor categories. Multivariate multinomial regression analysis was employed to predict conventional cigarette and e-cigarette use among students. A latent class analysis was conducted to determine the number of latent classes of flavor use.

RESULTS

One thousand six hundred high school and university students, with a mean age of 18.2 years (SD 2.19), were recruited between March and August, 2023. Conventional cigarette use in the past 30 days was higher (16.3%) compared to e-cigarette use (13.3%, p = 0.017), with approximately 8.5% of students were being dual users. Higher levels of sensation-seeking significantly increased the odds of being a current e-cigarette user (OR = 2.54, 95%CI 1.99-3.25) and a current conventional cigarette smoker (OR = 2.38, 95%CI 1.85-3.07). Three groups of flavor classes were identified: 1) primarily menthol flavor users (14%), who had a strong association with current conventional cigarette use; 2) experimenters, who mostly preferred fruit-flavored e-cigarettes (76%); and 3) the multi-flavor user group (10%), who had a higher sensation-seeking tendency.

CONCLUSIONS

Flavors, especially menthol and fruit flavors, attract youth, broaden the e-cigarette audience and are particularly appealing to high sensation-seekers. Banning these flavors could significantly deter e-cigarette initiation among youth.

Online e-cigarette promotion in Indonesia

BACKGROUND

The decline in the global prevalence of cigarette smoking has prompted tobacco companies to expand their business by producing and marketing new nicotine-based products in various countries, including Indonesia. The study aims to assess e-cigarette promotional frequency and content on social media in Indonesia.

METHODS

Monitoring was conducted on Instagram in October 2021. A total of 45 Instagram influencer accounts were monitored to assess the frequency of posting and interactions from 4 to 20 October for InstaStories and from 4 to 31 October for Instagram Feeds. Content analysis was carried out on 310 posts collected from 10 randomly selected accounts from 1 to 31 October (one post per account per day) to evaluate the form, type and characteristics of the promotions.

RESULTS

There were a total of 2 897 327 followers across the 45 Instagram accounts. On average, the 45 accounts posted about 185 stories and 43 feed posts per day. Of the 310 feed posts analysed from 10 randomly selected accounts, 64% featured images of women; 50% highlighted or displayed the product; and 32% showed enjoyment of the product flavours.

CONCLUSIONS

The tobacco industry has successfully taken advantage of the e-cigarette promotion regulatory void. The Indonesian government needs to ban the promotion of these products, including those on online platforms.

The portrayal of electronic cigarettes in Indonesia: a content analysis of news media

BACKGROUND

The news media play an essential role in shaping public opinion. Analyzing a specific issue reported in the news media provides insight and considerations for a government to form a policy. This study aimed to assess the portrayal of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) in Indonesian news media, including the variety of arguments being presented and the actors behind them.

METHODS

We used a paid service database from eBdesk to collect Indonesian news articles from 2020 to 2021 using the keywords 'rokok elektronik' (electronic cigarette), 'rokok elektrik' (electric cigarette), 'e-rokok' (e-cigarette), 'vape', and 'vaping'. Content analysis of 551 full-text news articles was conducted to identify the concepts, topics, and frames of quoted arguments and to examine whether any frames were presented by different types of organizations and the origin of actors.

RESULTS

News articles related to e-cigarettes were mostly published in the national newspaper and in the non-health section of the newspaper desk. A total of 891 arguments from 393 persons representing 212 institutions were identified. Twenty-eight concepts were further categorized into 12 topics. Health impact was the most frequently reported topic, followed by regulation, tax/price, and e-cigarettes as smoking cessation tools. Overall, the articles and arguments with positive tones toward e-cigarettes outnumbered negative articles and arguments. The industry, university, and research-based institutions were the most involved types of organizations in the news articles. There were more neutral frames toward e-cigarettes among government, even though the frame within the non-health government sector was reported to be more positive toward e-cigarettes.

CONCLUSIONS

Although health impact is the most reported topic, the actors involved in delivering arguments were mainly from the non-health sector, including when the news articles were published by the newspaper desk. The e-cigarette issue in Indonesia was mainly played by the non-health sector, which is more inclined toward economic interest than health.

Product variety and regulation avoidance in the sale of new tobacco products: findings from a point-of-sale survey in Indonesia

BACKGROUND

Since the imposition of the 2018 excise tax, new tobacco products (electronic nicotine delivery system, heated tobacco products, and nicotine pouches) have been considered legal, and their sale has grown rapidly in Indonesia. This study aims to assess the variety of new tobacco products available on the market and evaluate the point-of-sale (POS) environment.

METHODS

Data collection was carried out by 12 trained surveyors between March 7 and 13, 2022, in three provinces that had the most e-cigarette users: Yogyakarta, East Kalimantan, and Jakarta. All the vape stores with a Google rating of 4.5 stars or higher and a minimum of 100 reviews were included. In addition to vape stores, the nearest retail stores were included. The data collected included information about available products, product displays, and whether the POS followed tobacco-control measures, such as health warnings and smoke-free regulations.

RESULTS

A total of 27 vape stores and 35 retail stores were observed. The available liquid volumes ranged from 15 to 100 ml, with nicotine levels from 3 to 50 mg. No stores sold flavorless products, and all the products were sold without pictorial health warnings (PHWs). Most of the vape stores (92.6%) reported selling products that used cartoon images or public figures, and most (96.3%) allowed customers to use the products inside the store. Five vape stores and four retail stores reported that they did not require customers to undergo an identity-verification process to buy products. More than half (55.6%) of the vape stores and 46.6% of the retail stores reported that they were located less than 500 m from a school.

CONCLUSION

The available products were widely varied, and they were easy to access through online and offline stores. The new tobacco products had successfully avoided several tobacco-control measures, including smoke-free regulations and the appearance of PHWs on the products. The government needs to impose regulations sufficient to prevent youth from consuming new tobacco products.

Determinants of e-cigarette use among a sample of high school students in Jakarta, Indonesia

OBJECTIVES

The aim of this study was to determine the predisposing, enabling and reinforcing factors associated with electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) use among high school students in Jakarta, Indonesia.

METHODS

This cross-sectional study took place in eight high schools in Jakarta, Indonesia. A total of 767 students were recruited by multistage cluster random sampling. Bivariate and multivariate statistical analyses were employed to determine the associations between socio-demographic, predisposing, reinforcing and enabling factors and e-cigarette use.

RESULTS

Respondents were 54.1% male and the mean age was 16 years old [standard deviation (SD): 1.02]. In this sample, 32.2% of students (n = 247) had ever used e-cigarettes and 11.8% of students were e-cigarette users (n = 90). Several measured factors were positively associated with e-cigarette use, including: current smoking of conventional cigarettes [odds ratio (OR): 2.06]; perception that e-cigarettes are less addictive than conventional cigarettes (OR: 1.98); perception that e-cigarettes do not cause cancer (OR: 2.38); parental acceptance of e-cigarette use (OR: 3.80); and having enough money to buy e-cigarettes (OR: 3.24). The only variable found that was negatively associated with e-cigarette use was teacher's use of e-cigarettes (OR: 0.34).

CONCLUSIONS

This study found that student social influences, perceptions about and accessibility to e-cigarettes were significantly positively associated with e-cigarette use among high school students in Jakarta, Indonesia. This study highlights the importance of educating students, their parents and teachers regarding safety and potential health hazards of using e-cigarettes. Efforts to implement and enforce youth access restrictions on e-cigarettes in Indonesia are crucial to preventing further uptake of these products.

Determinants of cigarette smoking among school adolescents on the island of Java, Indonesia

BACKGROUND

The Integrated Model of Change has successfully explained the behavior change process. Cigarette smoking is a social phenomenon, which needs to be understood for devising effective preventive strategies.

OBJECTIVES

The study aims to apply the Integrated Model of Change to determine predictive factors of cigarette smoking behavior among school adolescents in Indonesia.

METHODS

A school-based cross-sectional study was designed to collect data in Banten, Indonesia. A total of 698 students from eight high schools were recruited by multi-stage cluster sampling. The association between cigarette smoking and the independent variables was examined by multiple logistic regressions.

RESULTS

The majority of respondents (86.4%) were between the ages of 15 and 17 years (Mean=16.4 years; SD=1.01). Approximately half (48.8%) of the students ever tried a cigarette while 29.6% were current smokers. Curiosity was reported as the main reason for experimenting with cigarettes (32%). The significant factors regarding current cigarette smoking were attitude [adjusted odds ratio (AOR)=2.68], social norms (AOR=12.80), self-efficacy (AOR=15.85), and accessibility (AOR=4.39).

CONCLUSION

The study revealed social influence and self-efficacy that were strongly associated with cigarette smoking can help authorities in guiding possible intervention programs for school adolescents.