A College of Queensland analysis challenge will examine the web influences behind younger folks taking over vaping, and develop social media content material to assist them in quitting the behavior.

Dr Carmen Lim from UQ’s Nationwide Centre for Youth Substance Use Analysis will lead the five-year challenge that may analyze pro-vaping social media content material to know younger folks’s attitudes in direction of vaping.

This is step one in an bold long-term plan to assist younger folks to stop vaping and to make social media safer.

Our analysis will examine how usually younger persons are uncovered to pro-vaping content material on-line and if it influences their angle to it, in addition to whether or not social media platforms goal weak populations.

We can even conduct focus teams and behavioural experiments to discover younger folks’s engagement with pro-vaping content material and establish interventions that might discourage them from vaping.”

Dr Carmen Lim from UQ’s Nationwide Centre for Youth Substance Use Analysis

Dr Lim mentioned whereas Australia had applied strict measures to regulate entry to nicotine vaping merchandise, there’s nonetheless a scarcity of efficient interventions designed to cease youth vaping.

“That’s the reason this analysis is essential,” Dr Lim mentioned.

“An increase in younger folks vaping in Australia has been accompanied by excessive volumes of pro-vaping content material on social media, most of which isn’t age restricted.”

A 2022 survey of 4445 folks aged 14-17 from Queensland, New South Wales and Western Australia discovered greater than 20 per cent had vaped prior to now 12 months, with 5.7 per cent saying they vape usually.

Dr Lim mentioned interventions have been urgently wanted to reverse the development.

“A US based mostly examine discovered vaping might place a $15.1 billion burden on annual well being care expenditure, which is able to solely enhance additional if teenagers proceed the behavior into maturity,” she mentioned.

“Rising analysis from the Nationwide Academies of Sciences in Public Well being suggests vaping doubtlessly has detrimental results on mind, lung and coronary heart growth.

“Many e-cigarettes include nicotine, which is extremely addictive, together with different poisonous chemical substances that may hurt mind growth and enhance the danger of psychological well being issues in adolescents.

“There must be extra regulation of pro-vaping messaging on social media platforms to cut back publicity and measures to make sure younger persons are conscious of the dangers.”

The analysis has acquired funding from the Nationwide Well being and Medical Analysis Council Investigator Grant Scheme.