How Are Young Adults Quitting Vaping?

TOPLINE:

In 2022, nearly one third of young adults in the United States used electronic nicotine products, and almost one third of the young adults who used them attempted to quit, with social support being the most commonly used cessation method.

METHODOLOGY:

• Researchers performed a secondary analysis and analyzed Wave 7 data, collected between January 2022 and April 2023, from the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health study to assess vaping cessation methods used by young adults.
• They included 10,310 young adults aged 18-24 years who reported using electronic nicotine products and attempting to quit or successfully quitting the use of electronic nicotine products in the past 12 months.
• Six methods used to quit vaping, namely, social support from family and friends, behavioral support, smartphone applications , nicotine replacement therapy, nicotine product substitution, and prescription medications, were assessed.
• Results were reported as unweighted numbers and weighted percentages to provide population estimates.

TAKEAWAY:

• Of 10,310 participants, 3024 reported using electronic nicotine products in the past 12 months, and 855 (mean age, 20.9 years; 52.3% women) reported quitting or attempting to quit in the past 12 months.
• Of those who reported quitting or attempting to quit, 20% did not use electronic nicotine products in the past 30 days, indicating an 80% rate of unsuccessful quit attempts.
• Support from family and friends was the most common method used by young adults to quit vaping (29.8%). Nicotine product substitution was used by 11.0% of participants, with nicotine pouches and cigarettes being the most common substitutes.
• Behavioral support, smartphone applications, and nicotine replacement therapy were less commonly used methods, reported by 9.6%, 8.9%, and 5.0% of participants, respectively, while prescription medications were the least used cessation method (1.7%).

IN PRACTICE:

“More frequent use of social support by young adults suggests this may be an important component of future cessation treatment programs,” the authors wrote. “Given the popularity of ENPs [electronic nicotine products] among YAs [young adults], there is a need for both evidence-based cessation treatments and improved implementation of effective treatments to help reduce ENP use,” they added.

SOURCE:

This study was led by Brian S. Williams, MD, of the Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health in Madison, Wisconsin. It was published online on May 29, 2025, in JAMA Network Open.

LIMITATIONS:

This study relied on self-reported data with a possibility of recall bias.

DISCLOSURES:

This study was supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health. One author reported receiving grants from the same source.

This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.