Is socioeconomic status related to youth e-cigarette use? Examining family affluence and sexual identity

There is limited evidence about the relationship between socioeconomic status (SES) and youth electronic cigarette use, particularly among sexual minorities. This study investigates whether family affluence is significantly associated with e-cigarette use among youth, including sexual minority youth. Data came from the 2021 National Youth Tobacco Survey (N = 10,515). The prevalence of e-cigarette use for all participants and sexual minority youth (N = 1376) by SES was calculated and ranked according to the Family Affluence Scale. A propensity score weighting method was used to address the imbalance in characteristics among SES groups. The associations of SES with current e-cigarette use and current flavored e-cigarette use were estimated using univariate survey logistic regression for all participants and self-identified sexual minority students. The prevalence of e-cigarette use was similar among socioeconomic groups for all participants and sexual minorities. The propensity score weighting analysis showed no significant association between SES and current e-cigarette use for all participants and sexual minority students. Equally, there was no significant association between SES and current flavored e-cigarette use. Findings suggest that other protective and risk factors might explain youth e-cigarette use more than SES (family affluence scale).