Background: Given the increasing popularity of e-cigarette use among adults and the ongoing debate about the benefits and the potential adverse health risks associated with e-cigarette use, it is critical to identify the correlates of e-cigarette use. Prior research has found associations between interpersonal communication, perceived norms, and adults' e-cigarette use, but the evidence has yet to be summarized and synthesized.Objectives: This paper reviewed empirical studies examining the relationship between interpersonal communication, perceived norms, and e-cigarette use among adults.Methods: Following PRISMA guidelines, articles were searched on DOAJ, EMBASE, Europe PubMed Central, Google Scholar, PsychINFO, PubMed, Web of Science, and the reference list of the retrieved studies for studies that examined social influence on e-cigarette use. Three reviewers independently screened 1,713 non-duplicate papers and further screened the full text of 195 articles for inclusion.Results: Thirty studies (30), consisting of quantitative (n = 25) and qualitative (n = 5) data, were included in this review. The twenty-five (25) quantitative studies consisted of both cross-sectional (n = 20) and longitudinal (n = 5) studies. Interpersonal communication portraying e-cigarettes as beneficial or harmful was found to increase e-cigarette use and quit attempts, respectively. Across study designs, greater perceptions of others' e-cigarette use or approval were related to more frequent e-cigarette use.Conclusions: The findings highlight that e-cigarette-related interpersonal communication and perceived norms are associated with e-cigarette use. These factors may be useful targets in brief interventions. However, most of the included studies were cross-sectional, limiting the ability to establish clear cause-and-effect relationships; therefore, more longitudinal studies are needed.

The prevalence of e-cigarette use (vaping) among young adults has increased rapidly from 11.7% in 2020 to 24.1% in 2023 (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration 2021, 2024). This ...

Background: Alcohol-related Protective Behavioral Strategies (PBS), including manner of drinking, limiting or stopping drinking, and serious harm reduction strategies significantly moderate the relationship between several factors (e.g., drinking motives, alcohol expectancies) associated with alcohol use and alcohol-related problems. However, it is currently unknown whether PBS can also moderate the relationship between perceived norms (i.e., descriptive and injunctive), alcohol consumption, and alcohol-related consequences. Examining the moderating role of PBS in alcohol consumption is critical for integrating PBS into prevention efforts and improving the effectiveness of alcohol-related harm reduction approaches. Methods: A confidential online survey on alcohol use was given to 524 college students at a large public university (M_age = 20.93; SD = 3.51; females = 75.38%). Results: A moderated mediation analysis indicates that PBS aimed at avoiding excessive drinking (i.e., manner of drinking) significantly moderated the relationship between descriptive norms and alcohol use. It was also determined that the indirect effect of descriptive norms on alcohol consequences through alcohol consumption was weaker when manner of drinking use was high. Thus, greater use of manner of drinking strategies reduces the strength of the association between descriptive norms, alcohol consumption, and alcohol consequences. However, injunctive norms were not directly associated with alcohol consumption and alcohol consequences. Conclusions: Our findings show that promoting the use of manner of drinking strategies could be effective at reducing alcohol use and related problems among college students who perceive heavy drinking as normative.