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Engagement Patterns in a Social Media Vaping Cessation Intervention for Adolescents and Young Adults
ABSTRACT
Background:
Despite increasing interest in quitting e-cigarette use (“vaping”) among adolescents and young adults, few cessation programs are available. Social media interventions may provide engaging social support to promote healthy behavior. However, few studies have tested the relationship between social media engagement and vaping cessation among adolescents and young adults enrolled in social media interventions.
Objective:
We examined the relationships between self-reported engagement, observed chat engagement, and 7-day point prevalence abstinence at the end of a five-week social media group-based vaping cessation intervention among adolescents and young adults.
Methods:
Participants (n = 256) were enrolled in a five-week vaping cessation intervention delivered in Instagram groups to build a social support network to encourage vaping cessation behavior. Engagement was measured both by self-report and observation. We used mixed effects logistic regression models to examine the relationships between self-reported and observed engagement with 7-day point prevalence abstinence from e-cigarette use at the end of the program, adjusting for demographics.
Results:
Most participants (88.6%) read the group chat at least daily, and 51.6% reported reading the chats multiple times per day. Participants were most active at 8 am, and on Mondays and Wednesdays. Observed engagement (number of reactions or posts) was associated with e-cigarette point prevalence abstinence. Self-reported active (i.e. posting) engagement and self-reported passive (i.e. reading) engagement were not associated with 7-day point prevalence abstinence.
Conclusions:
There were high levels of both self-reported and observed engagement throughout this social media support intervention, and greater observed engagement was associated with vaping abstinence. Future social media-based interventions might consider posting more content during times when participants are more likely to be active (e.g. at the beginning of the day or week). Anticipating group quit attempts may also help increase engagement.
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Copyright
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