Article | Young people's smoking and vaping behaviour, and comparative perceptions of appeal, imagery and harm, across different vape devices and a tobacco cigarette: findings from UK cross-sectional surveys in 2020 and 2023

Article

Young people's smoking and vaping behaviour, and comparative perceptions of appeal, imagery and harm, across different vape devices and a tobacco cigarette: findings from UK cross-sectional surveys in 2020 and 2023

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Citation

MacKintosh AM, Mitchell D, Hilton S, Smith M & Ford A (2025) Young people's smoking and vaping behaviour, and comparative perceptions of appeal, imagery and harm, across different vape devices and a tobacco cigarette: findings from UK cross-sectional surveys in 2020 and 2023. Frontiers in Public Health, 13. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2025.1689766

Abstract
Introduction: After the introduction of a new generation of disposable vapes (e.g., Elf Bar) in the UK in 2021, there was a rapid increase in their use by young people and concern about their availability and marketing. This study examined young people’s vaping and smoking between 2020 and 2023, and perceptions of a disposable vape, a tank model and a traditional cigarette, to examine whether disposable vapes may have contributed to the rise in youth vaping. Methods: Online cross-sectional surveys in 2020 (Youth Tobacco Policy Survey n?=?2,121) and 2023 (Youth E-cigarettes Policy Survey n?=?2,164) with 11–16-year-olds across the UK were conducted. Measures included demographics, vaping and vaping susceptibility, smoking and smoking susceptibility, type(s) of vapes used, and product ratings across 11 items/attributes covering product appeal, imagery and perceptions of harm. Results: Between 2020 and 2023, prevalence of ever smoking reduced from 12.2 to 9.3%, whilst ever vaping increased from 10.1 to 17.5%. Vaping experimentation was not confined to young people who had already tried smoking: in 2023, never smokers accounted for the majority of ever vapers (56.6%). Of those who had tried vaping, disposable vapes were the most commonly used device type, with 72.8% having used a disposable vape the first time they tried vaping. There was an association between having tried vaping and susceptibility to smoke. Disposable vapes were rated more favourably compared with a tank device on 9 of 11 items across appeal, imagery and harm (range adjusted odds ratio (AOR): 1.40–4.16; p?

Keywords
disposable vapes; E-cigarettes; young people; survey; cross-sectional; vaping; smoking; susceptibility