Sociodemographic Patterns of Exclusive and Dual Combustible Tobacco and E-Cigarette Use among US Adolescents—A Nationally Representative Study (2017–2020)

Abstract

This study assessed the sociodemographic predictors of exclusive and dual use of the most frequently used nicotine/tobacco products, e-cigarettes, and combustible tobacco among adolescents. Cross-sectional data was from the 2017–2020 Monitoring the Future nationally representative study of eighth, tenth, and twelfth-grade students. We coded past 30 day nicotine/tobacco use into four mutually exclusive categories: no use, e-cigarette use only, combustible use (cigarette or cigar) only, and dual use (e-cigarette and combustible). We pooled the 2017–2020 data to examine the relationship between sex, race/ethnicity, parental education, and each product-use category using multinomial logistic regression, stratified by grade level. Among eighth (N = 11,189), tenth (N = 12,882), and twelfth graders (N = 11,385), exclusive e-cigarette use was the most prevalent pattern (6.4%, 13.2%, 13.8%, respectively), followed by dual use (2.7%, 4.5%, 8.9%), and exclusive combustible use (1.5%, 2.5%, 5.3%). eighth and tenth-grade adolescents whose highest parental education was a 4-year college degree or more had lower odds of exclusive combustible and dual use when compared to adolescents whose highest parental education was less than a high school degree. Research should continue to monitor the differential use of combustible tobacco products and e-cigarettes among adolescents from low socioeconomic status backgrounds or racial/ethnic minority households to inform ongoing and future interventions or policies.