The Theory of Planned Behavior and E-cig Use: Sensation Seeking, E-cig Attitudes and E-cig Use

Abstract

E-cig use is growing in popularity in the United States, but the underlying risk factors for e-cig use are not well understood. Positive attitudes towards e-cigs play an important role in e-cig use and such attitudes are related to current e-cig use, intent to use, and actual future use of e-cigs. Using a Theory of Planned Behavior framework (Ajzen & Fishbein, 1988), the present study investigated how attitudes towards e-cig use and impulsive personality traits (negative urgency, positive urgency, lack of perseverance, lack of premeditation, sensation seeking) are related to the likelihood of e-cig use. Five hundred and forty-five participants (Mean age = 34.11, SD = 10.96, 48.6% female, 86.2% Caucasian) completed the Comparing E-Cigarettes and Cigarettes questionnaire (CEAC; attitude measure), the Short UPPS-P Impulsive Behavior Scale, and an ecig use measure. E-cig users were significantly higher in negative urgency, F(3,542)=3.88, p=.005, and positive urgency, F(3,542) = 2.80, p=.003, traits that represent the tendency to act impulsively in extreme negative and positive emotional states, respectively. Those who use e-cigs also reported significantly higher scores on all the CEAC subscale scores (General Benefits, F(3, 542) = 102.10, p<.001, Addiction/Cessation, F(3,542) = 67.20, p<.001, and Improve Health, F(3, 542) = 125.03, p<.001). A structural path analysis revealed that sensation seeking is significantly related to positive e-cig attitudes (b=0.63, p<.001) and these attitudes were related to a higher likelihood of being an e-cig user (b=0.63, p<.001), after controlling for all other impulsivity traits and demographics. These findings provide initial support for a theoretical model of how impulsivity and attitudes toward e-cig use influence e-cig use and targeting these factors could be prime points of intervention for e-cig use.