Understanding the Role of Vaping in Criminal Behavior Among Adolescents

• Author: Anthony G. Vito,Jonathan Intravia,Gregory C. Rocheleau
• Published date: 01 September 2022
• Date: 01 September 2022
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/07340168211001914

Article

Understanding the Role of

Vaping in Criminal Behavior

Among Adolescents

Anthony G. Vito

1

, Gregory C. Rocheleau

1

, and Jonathan Intravia

1

Abstract

This study examines the link between ever vaped, vaped just flavoring in the past 30 days, and vaped

just flavoring frequently in the past 30 days and violent crime, property crime, marijuana use, and

smoking. Using the 2017 Monitoring the Future form two data set and propensity score matching,

the researchers are better able to consider the impact of the vaping behavior among similarly

situated 12th-grade adolescents. Results illustrate that there are no vaping behaviors linked with

violent crime or property crime among similarly situated adolescents. In contrast, results show that

adolescents who have ever vaped, vaped just flavoring, or vaped just flavoring frequently are linked

with marijuana use and smoking. Limitations and future research implications are discussed.

Keywords

crime/delinquency theory, drugs and crime, other, quantitative methods, other

Introduction

E-Cigarette Use and Delinquency

There has been a steady rise in e-cigarette usage among youth over the past decade (Dutra & Glantz,

2017; Hammond et al., 2019; Johnston et al., 2019). Recently, medical professionals, mass media,

and the general public have raised substantial concerns regarding the ramifications of e-cigarette use

on users’ physical health. This is due to, in large part, a national outbreak of e-cigarette-related lung

injuries and deaths across the United States during 2019 (Center for Disease Control and Prevention,

2020). In addition to health concerns associated with increasing rates of e-cigarette usage among

youth, broader concerns may be warranted as scholars have identified a number of risky behaviors

related to e-cigarettes, such as smoking cigarettes, using other substances, and engaging in other

forms of delinquency (Demissie et al., 2017; Jackson et al., 2019; Milicic & Leatherdale, 2017;

Westling et al., 2017). Indeed, there is a large body of research demonstrating a positive relationship

1

Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology, Ball State University, IN, USA

Corresponding Author:

Anthony G. Vito, Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology, Ball State University, 2000 W. University Ave., Muncie,

IN 47306, USA.

Email: agvito@bsu.edu

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DOI: 10.1177/07340168211001914

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2022, Vol. 47(3) 285–301

between using e-cigarettes and smoking cigarettes, particularly among adolescents (Chatterjee et al.,

2016; Dutra & Glantz, 2014; Leventhal et al., 2015; Milicic & Leatherdale, 2017; Owusu et al.,

2017; Westling et al., 2017). In fact, some studies have reported that current or former smoking

status is the single greatest predictor of e-cigarette use (Camenga et al., 2014; Farsalinos et al.,

2016, 2017).

Prior research has sought to explain why adolescents use flavored e-cigarettes. The studies have

primarily come from the medical field and use data from nationally representative surveys. Research

using the Monitoring the Future (MTF) surveys show that adolescents who just vape flavoring are

less likely to smoke and more likely to vape flavoring than youth who do not smoke (Evans-Polce

et al., 2018; Tam & Warner, 2018). Research on this topic has also come from the Population

Assessment and Tobacco and Health (PATH) longitudinal survey. Considering adolescent use, the

studies from these data show that adolescents who perceive having easier access to flavored

e-cigarettes are more likely to use this product, adolescents are more likely to use certain flavors

like fruit or candy and use multiple types of flavors in general (Chen-Sankey et al., 2019; Soneji

et al., 2019). However, Friedman and Xu (2020), using Waves 1–4 of the PATH data, did not show a

statistically significant difference with initiating smoking between youth who use flavored

e-cigarettes and youth using unflavored e-cigarettes. Other studies using survey data found that

adolescents who vaped just flavoring were more likely to use e-cigarette products in the future, and

there is a link between adolescents who use fruit flavors leading to using tobacco products for the

first time (Audrain-McGovern et al., 2019; Groom et al., 2020). A systematic review by Zare and

colleagues (2018) focusing on the attributes of e-cigarette users found that among adolescents, many

consider flavor to be the greatest factor in their decision to use e-cigarettes and that the initial use of

vaping was more likely when the substance vaped is a flavor.

Marijuana is another substance frequently shown to be related to e-cigarette use among adoles-

cents (Azagba, 2018; Milicic & Leatherdale, 2017; Owotomo & Maslowsky, 2017; Westling et al.,

2017). One reason marijuana stands out in the literature as a specific substance related to e-cigarette

use is that, like tobacco, marijuana is a commonly vaped substance. For example, a study by

Johnston and colleagues (2019) using national data reported that 4.4%of eighth graders, 12.4%

of 10th graders, and 13.1%of 12th graders, respectively, used e-cigarettes with marijuana in the past

year during 2018. In addition, e-cigarette use has also been reported to be positively related to other

substances, such as lifetime drug use, illicit drug use, binge drinking, alcohol use, and prescription

drug misuse (Currans et al., 2018; Demissie et al., 2017; McCabe et al., 2018; Milicic & Leatherdale,

2017; Westling et al., 2017).

Far fewer studies have examined whether e-cigarette use is related to forms of violent or non-

violent delinquency outside the realm of substance use. One study using a national sample of U.S.

youth found that, compared to nonusers, those who used e-cigarettes were more likely to engage in

violence and reported having more sexual partners (Demissie et al., 2017). Similarly, another study

of eighth- and 10th-grade youth using MTF data found that e-cigarette use was positively related to

general delinquency (Jackson et al., 2019). Moreover, focusing on what is being vaped, this same

study reported that youth who vape marijuana are at the greatest risk to also engage in delinquency.

In fact, in supplemental analyses, Jackson and colleagues (2019) found that vaping marijuana had a

stronger relationship with delinquency than consuming marijuana through more traditional means.

The authors suggest that there may be something distinctly criminogenic about vaping marijuana

and recommended that future research consider selection effects or experiential effects. Thus,

despite the limited number of studies in this research area, evidence from two different national

samples from the United States shows that using e-cigarettes is related to both violent and nonviolent

delinquency. Nonetheless, more research is clearly needed in this area to further explore some of the

nuances such as more critically examining the nature of the relationship between e-cigarette use and

delinquency.

286 Criminal Justice Review 47(3)