Teen vaping leads to persistent and heavier smoking

Young teen smokers who also vape may be at heightened risk of persistent and heavier smoking in their late teens, reveal the combined findings of two nationally representative UK and US studies, published online in the journal Tobacco Control.

Despite national differences in e-cigarette regulation and marketing between the two countries, the findings suggest that e-cigarettes may deepen early patterns of smoking, known as the ‘entrenchment hypothesis,’ conclude the researchers.

The prevalence of smoking among teens has fallen sharply over the past several decades. But it’s not clear what role e-cigarettes might have in reinforcing or reversing this trend.

Teens who have already started smoking before the age of 15 are especially vulnerable to developing nicotine dependency, say the researchers. The team wanted to investigate if and how concurrent e-cigarette use might shape future smoking patterns in this group.