The role of affective urgency and emotion regulation in vaping susceptibility

INTRODUCTION: The prevalence of E-cigarette use is increasing along with concerns about the negative health effects of their use. Understanding the psychological constructs associated with susceptibility to beginning regular e-cigarette use may be helpful for prevention efforts. Factors such as emotion regulation (ER) and impulsivity, specifically urgency, have been significantly correlated with patterns of drug addiction in the past. With few prior studies linking ER and impulsivity factors with e-cigarette susceptibility, the present study aims to assess their relationship in predicting e-cigarette susceptibility in university never-smokers. METHOD: Two hundred and twenty-five students were surveyed online using a questionnaire measuring difficulties in ER, impulsivity, and e-cigarette susceptibility. Path analysis was used to understand the relationship between positive and negative urgency and ER in predicting susceptibility to use. RESULTS: Results indicated that negative urgency was mediated by difficulties in ER to predict susceptibility while positive urgency was not significantly related to susceptibility. CONCLUSION: The results of this study offer insights into the role affective traits contribute to susceptibility to e-cigarettes, potentially improving future addiction prevention research.