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Welsh Primary Schoolchildren’s Perceptions of Electronic Cigarettes: A Mixed Methods Study

There are concerns that the growing popularity of e-cigarettes promotes experimentation among children. Given the influence of the early years on attitude and habit formation, better understanding of how younger children perceive vaping before experimentation begins is needed, to prevent uptake and...

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Autores principales: Porcellato, Lorna, Ross-Houle, Kim, Quigg, Zara, Harris, Jane, Bigland, Charlotte, Bates, Rebecca, Timpson, Hannah, Gee, Ivan, Bishop, Julie, Gould, Ashley, Davies, Alisha R.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7277780/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32455786
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17103639
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author Porcellato, Lorna
Ross-Houle, Kim
Quigg, Zara
Harris, Jane
Bigland, Charlotte
Bates, Rebecca
Timpson, Hannah
Gee, Ivan
Bishop, Julie
Gould, Ashley
Davies, Alisha R.
author_facet Porcellato, Lorna
Ross-Houle, Kim
Quigg, Zara
Harris, Jane
Bigland, Charlotte
Bates, Rebecca
Timpson, Hannah
Gee, Ivan
Bishop, Julie
Gould, Ashley
Davies, Alisha R.
author_sort Porcellato, Lorna
collection PubMed
description There are concerns that the growing popularity of e-cigarettes promotes experimentation among children. Given the influence of the early years on attitude and habit formation, better understanding of how younger children perceive vaping before experimentation begins is needed, to prevent uptake and inform tobacco control strategies. We explored Welsh primary schoolchildren’s (aged 7–11) awareness of e-cigarettes relative to tobacco smoking, their understanding of the perceived risks and benefits and their intentions and beliefs about vaping. Data was collected using a mix of methods in June and July 2017 from 8 purposively selected primary schools across Wales. Four hundred and ninety-five children (52% female) aged 7 years (n = 165), 9 years (n = 185) and 11 years (n = 145) completed a class-administered booklet encompassing a draw and write exercise and survey. Ninety-six children participated in 24 peer discussion groups comprised of 2 boys and 2 girls from each year group. Data were analysed independently and findings triangulated. Survey analyses used frequencies, descriptive statistics and chi-squared tests. Content analysis was undertaken on the draw and write data and peer discussion groups were analysed thematically. Study findings highlight that primary schoolchildren have general awareness of e-cigarettes. Vaping was perceived to be healthier than smoking and there was some recognition that e-cigarettes were used for smoking cessation. Understanding of any health harms was limited. Few children intended to smoke or vape in the future but almost half thought it was okay for grownups. Children’s perceptions were influenced by exposure through family and friends. Findings suggest a need for e-cigarette education in primary schools, to highlight the associated risks of e-cigarette experimentation including the potential for tobacco initiation.
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spelling pubmed-72777802020-06-12 Welsh Primary Schoolchildren’s Perceptions of Electronic Cigarettes: A Mixed Methods Study Porcellato, Lorna Ross-Houle, Kim Quigg, Zara Harris, Jane Bigland, Charlotte Bates, Rebecca Timpson, Hannah Gee, Ivan Bishop, Julie Gould, Ashley Davies, Alisha R. Int J Environ Res Public Health Article There are concerns that the growing popularity of e-cigarettes promotes experimentation among children. Given the influence of the early years on attitude and habit formation, better understanding of how younger children perceive vaping before experimentation begins is needed, to prevent uptake and inform tobacco control strategies. We explored Welsh primary schoolchildren’s (aged 7–11) awareness of e-cigarettes relative to tobacco smoking, their understanding of the perceived risks and benefits and their intentions and beliefs about vaping. Data was collected using a mix of methods in June and July 2017 from 8 purposively selected primary schools across Wales. Four hundred and ninety-five children (52% female) aged 7 years (n = 165), 9 years (n = 185) and 11 years (n = 145) completed a class-administered booklet encompassing a draw and write exercise and survey. Ninety-six children participated in 24 peer discussion groups comprised of 2 boys and 2 girls from each year group. Data were analysed independently and findings triangulated. Survey analyses used frequencies, descriptive statistics and chi-squared tests. Content analysis was undertaken on the draw and write data and peer discussion groups were analysed thematically. Study findings highlight that primary schoolchildren have general awareness of e-cigarettes. Vaping was perceived to be healthier than smoking and there was some recognition that e-cigarettes were used for smoking cessation. Understanding of any health harms was limited. Few children intended to smoke or vape in the future but almost half thought it was okay for grownups. Children’s perceptions were influenced by exposure through family and friends. Findings suggest a need for e-cigarette education in primary schools, to highlight the associated risks of e-cigarette experimentation including the potential for tobacco initiation. MDPI 2020-05-21 2020-05 /pmc/articles/PMC7277780/ /pubmed/32455786 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17103639 Text en © 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Porcellato, Lorna
Ross-Houle, Kim
Quigg, Zara
Harris, Jane
Bigland, Charlotte
Bates, Rebecca
Timpson, Hannah
Gee, Ivan
Bishop, Julie
Gould, Ashley
Davies, Alisha R.
Welsh Primary Schoolchildren’s Perceptions of Electronic Cigarettes: A Mixed Methods Study
title Welsh Primary Schoolchildren’s Perceptions of Electronic Cigarettes: A Mixed Methods Study
title_full Welsh Primary Schoolchildren’s Perceptions of Electronic Cigarettes: A Mixed Methods Study
title_fullStr Welsh Primary Schoolchildren’s Perceptions of Electronic Cigarettes: A Mixed Methods Study
title_full_unstemmed Welsh Primary Schoolchildren’s Perceptions of Electronic Cigarettes: A Mixed Methods Study
title_short Welsh Primary Schoolchildren’s Perceptions of Electronic Cigarettes: A Mixed Methods Study
title_sort welsh primary schoolchildren’s perceptions of electronic cigarettes: a mixed methods study
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7277780/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32455786
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17103639
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