Social media use and child cigarette smoking and e-cigarette use: a cohort study 2015-2023
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Laverty, Anthony
Parnham, Jennie
Filippos T, Filippidis
Martin, McKee
Hopkinson, Nicholas
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Introduction
There are growing concerns that advertising and promotion on social media are driving youth use of tobacco and e-cigarettes. The UK provides an instructive example as it has high levels of e-cigarette use, high levels of social media use and a restrictive tobacco control environment. Existing evidence in the UK however, has not focused on children, has not been updated to reflect changes in patterns of social media use and in the use of these products. The aim of this study is to assess the associations of social media use with smoking and vaping.
Methods
Using data from the United Kingdom Household Longitudinal Study on 10–17-year-olds between 2015-2023, Generalised Estimating Equation (GEE) models estimated relationships between time spent on social media and likelihood of smoking tobacco and using e-cigarettes. Models were controlled for possible confounders including socio-demographics and whether children lived in a home with e-cigarette use or tobacco smoking.
Results
We included data from 9,359 participants with 25,704 observations. Current cigarette smoking was reported by 4.9% of the sample and current e-cigarette use by 3.1% of the sample. Our adjusted models found strong relationships between time spent on social media and both smoking and vaping (p value for trend <0.001). For example, use of social media for ≥7 hours/day was linked to greater odds of tobacco (Adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR) 5.13, 95% Confidence Interval (CI) 3.32-7.95) and e-cigarette use (AOR 4.26, CI 2.25-8.08).
Conclusions
This study finds associations between time spent on social media and both smoking and vaping among children. Enforcing regulations on content and restricting the duration of social media use may be warranted to protect children’s health.
There are growing concerns that advertising and promotion on social media are driving youth use of tobacco and e-cigarettes. The UK provides an instructive example as it has high levels of e-cigarette use, high levels of social media use and a restrictive tobacco control environment. Existing evidence in the UK however, has not focused on children, has not been updated to reflect changes in patterns of social media use and in the use of these products. The aim of this study is to assess the associations of social media use with smoking and vaping.
Methods
Using data from the United Kingdom Household Longitudinal Study on 10–17-year-olds between 2015-2023, Generalised Estimating Equation (GEE) models estimated relationships between time spent on social media and likelihood of smoking tobacco and using e-cigarettes. Models were controlled for possible confounders including socio-demographics and whether children lived in a home with e-cigarette use or tobacco smoking.
Results
We included data from 9,359 participants with 25,704 observations. Current cigarette smoking was reported by 4.9% of the sample and current e-cigarette use by 3.1% of the sample. Our adjusted models found strong relationships between time spent on social media and both smoking and vaping (p value for trend <0.001). For example, use of social media for ≥7 hours/day was linked to greater odds of tobacco (Adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR) 5.13, 95% Confidence Interval (CI) 3.32-7.95) and e-cigarette use (AOR 4.26, CI 2.25-8.08).
Conclusions
This study finds associations between time spent on social media and both smoking and vaping among children. Enforcing regulations on content and restricting the duration of social media use may be warranted to protect children’s health.
Date Issued
2025-11-01
Date Acceptance
2025-09-27
Citation
Tobacco Induced Diseases, 2025, 23
ISSN
1617-9625
Publisher
European Publishing
Journal / Book Title
Tobacco Induced Diseases
Volume
23
Copyright Statement
© 2025 Laverty A.A. et al. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
License URL
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
178
Date Publish Online
2025-11-20