YOUNG people rarely consider the health risks of vaping and regard it as normalised and socially embedded, according to recent Flinders University research into the perceptions and motivations of young vapers.
Findings from the qualitative study involving people aged 16-24 highlighted a need for tailored messages to disrupt youths downplaying its risks.
Vaping remains prevalent among Australian adolescents and young adults, and vapes continue to be easily accessible from peers and stores, regardless of restrictions imposed in 2025.
"We need to understand how - and if - uncertainty about long-term health risks of [vaping] is a factor among youth who vape, to measure the potential influence of messages to reduce vaping prevalence," said lead author Dr Joshua Trigg, from Flinders University's College of Medicine and Public Health.
The study revealed that participants discounted prevention messages, citing low personal relevance and limited credibility.
Many framed warnings on health harms as distant or hypothetical, enabling their continued use of vapes, while uncertainty about long-term consequences of health damage was not only tolerated but often used as evidence to justify their risk-taking.
"Australian youths navigate vaping by rationalising and deferring their engagement with risk," Dr Trigg said.
"Uncertainty tolerance plays a role in continued vaping, particularly in the absence of visible harms, so prevention strategies should address this tolerance directly and use social and peer-based messaging to counteract their belief that vaping is normalised," he suggested.
The study was published in the journal Substance Use and Misuse - read it HERE. KB
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