Currently, there is little information on predictors of e-cigarette use, smoking, and dual usage among youth. The Arch Lab contributed to a new paper titled “Trends and predictors of exclusive e-cigarette use, exclusive smoking and dual use among youth in Canada” to investigate predictive patterns among these groups using longitudinal data from the COMPASS Study.

Data points were taken from three time periods ranging over three years. The paper examined whether frequency of e-cigarette use and cigarette smoking during the initial assessment predicted involvement in different usage groups at later assessments (both assessment periods two and three). Similarly, changes in frequency of e-cigarette use and cigarette smoking between assessments one and two predicted involvement in different usage groups at assessment three.

Results indicated that cigarette smoking was not a predictor of exclusive e-cigarette use at follow-up. However, reductions in frequency of e-cigarette use appeared to have a protective effect of reducing exclusive e-cigarette use and dual use at follow-up. Increases in frequency of cigarette smoking were a significant predictor of both exclusive smoking and dual use.