A new study has found that the more time children and young people spend on social media, the more likely they are to smoke or vape. Their results have been published in the journal Thorax and indicate that spending seven or more hours a day on social networks during the week is associated with more than double the risk of smoking among children and young people aged 10 to 25, which reinforces the concern about the impact of marketing on these platforms.
The researchers used data from the UK Household Longitudinal Study 2015–21 and asked participants to report their usual weekday social media use, as well as their current cigarette and vaping use. Among the 10,808 participants, with a total of 27,962 observations reported, just over 8.5% reported currently smoking cigarettes in at least one survey, and 2.5% reported vaping. Just over 1% reported use of both.
Analysis of the responses showed that cigarette smoking, vaping, and dual use were more common among participants who reported higher social media use. Only 2% of those who said they did not use social media reported currently smoking cigarettes, compared to nearly 16% of those who said they spent seven or more hours a day using it.
Similarly, current vaping ranged from less than 1% among non-social media users to 2.5% among those who spent seven or more hours daily on social media. The likelihood of smoking, vaping, and dual use also increased along with the amount of time spent on social media.
The more time spent on social networks, the more likely they are to smoke and vape.
Those who reported spending less than an hour a day on social media were 92% more likely to be current smokers than those who reported no time on social media, while those who spent seven or more hours a day were more than 3.5 times more likely to be current smokers. more likely to be current smokers.
Those who reported spending one to three hours daily on social media were 92% more likely to report current vaping than those who reported not using social media. And those who spent seven or more hours daily on social media were almost three times more likely to report current vaping than those who said they did not use these platforms.
Greater social media use was associated with a greater likelihood of dual use. Those who reported spending one to three hours a day on social media were more than three times more likely to be dual users than those who reported not using social media. But those who spent seven or more hours a day on social media were almost five times more likely to smoke and vape.
The findings were independent of other factors associated with an increased risk of smoking and vaping, including age, sex, household income, and whether parents smoke or vape. When the analysis was disaggregated by sex and household income, similar associations emerged for smoking, but not for vaping. Men, those under legal purchase age and those from higher-income households were more likely to vape.
“Social media use has been shown to have characteristics in common with addictive reward-seeking behaviors, such as smoking.”
This is an observational study, so no firm conclusions can be drawn about causal factors. The researchers also acknowledge that the study was based on data provided by the participants and that they did not have information about the social media platforms used, or how they were being used. But they offer some explanations for their findings:
- “First, and most directly, there is evidence that the corporations behind tobacco and vaping use social media to advertise and promote their products,” the researchers write. “This includes algorithmically targeted direct advertising and the use of paid social media influencers who present smoking and vaping as trendy and desirable activities. Spending more time on social media likely increases exposure to these forms of influence,” they explain.
- “Second, social media use has been shown to have characteristics in common with addictive reward-seeking behaviors. “High social media use can increase susceptibility to other addictive behaviors such as smoking.”
- “Third, as a space that is largely unsupervised by parents/caregivers, social media use can encourage transgressive behaviors, including smoking and vaping.”
The study authors conclude that “companies that own social media platforms have substantial power to modify exposure to material that promotes smoking and vaping if they wish or are forced to do so. Voluntary codes seem unlikely to achieve this, and the introduction and enforcement of material bans that promote this should be considered.” “In general, we believe that algorithms should not promote products to people who cannot legally purchase. Legislation and enforcement around this and other corporate determinants of health issues should be considered a central part of online safety and child protection,” they add.
