Table 1_Social media exposure, school prevention, and adolescent vaping: a structural equation model-based secondary analysis of the Florida youth tobacco survey.docx

ObjectiveThe increasing prevalence of vaping among adolescents raises significant public health concerns. Two factors influencing this trend are exposure to digital content on social media and school-based prevention programs. Therefore, the aims of this study were to assess the roles of social media use, school prevention programs, and gender on the frequency of vaping and knowledge about its harmfulness.
MethodsThis study was conducted as a secondary data analysis based on data from the 2024 ‘Florida Youth Tobacco Survey’. The large cross-sectional sample included 49,839 high school and middle school students. The impact of social media use and prevention programs on the frequency of vaping and knowledge about its harmfulness was analyzed using structural equation modeling.
ResultsSocial Media Use was positively and statistically significantly associated with Frequency of Vaping and negatively associated with Knowledge about Harmfulness. Prevention Programs were negatively related to Frequency of Vaping and positively associated with Knowledge about Harmfulness. For the Gender variable, a statistically significant effect was observed on Frequency of Vaping, while no significant association was found between Gender and Knowledge about Harmfulness. Females reported a slightly higher use of vaping devices than males. Overall, the model demonstrated an acceptable fit to the data.
ConclusionThese results highlight that both school prevention efforts and social media use exert direct, quantifiable impacts on vaping frequency and knowledge about its harmfulness among adolescents. These findings support the development of a multidimensional framework that unites educational domains, digital literacy, and public health communication to address adolescent vaping behavior.