ArticleBMJ open2016
E-cigarettes, a safer alternative for teenagers? A UK focus group study of teenagers' views.
Article in BMJ open, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 32 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
32 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Youth use of e-liquid flavours-a systematic review exploring patterns of use of e-liquid flavours and associations with continued vaping, tobacco smoking uptake or cessation.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2022Pooled it
- Association of Conventional and Electronic Cigarette Use with Obesity and Central Obesity Among Korean Adults: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of the 2016-2018 KNHANES (2016-2018).Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2026Article
- Knowledge, perceived harms and reasons for use of disposable electronic cigarettes among youth: a qualitative study in Switzerland.BMJ public health · 2026Article
- Policy influences on adolescent risk perceptions of vaping.Journal of epidemiology and community health · 2025Article
- Virtual Reality for the Prevention and Cessation of Nicotine Vaping in Youths: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial.JMIR research protocols · 2025Article
- Co-production of a youth advocacy video on the harms of e-cigarette advertising in Scotland.Health promotion international · 2025Article
- Harm perceptions across vaping product features: An on-line cross-sectional survey of adults who smoke and/or vape in the United Kingdom.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2025Article
- Young people's experiences of vaping in their community: a co-created study between embedded researchers and local authority public health practitioners.Perspectives in public health · 2025Review
- Sex-stratified analysis of marketing exposure and current e-cigarette use among Saudi adolescents.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Youth Smoking Behavior and Policy Attitudes: A Study of High-School Students in the Maldives.Risk management and healthcare policy · 2024Article
- A review of tobacco abuse and its epidemiological consequences.Zeitschrift fur Gesundheitswissenschaften = Journal of public health · 2022Review
- Inhaled or Ingested, Which Is Worse, E-Vaping or High-Fat Diet?Frontiers in immunology · 2022Article
- "That's the whole thing about vaping, it's custom tasty goodness": a meta-ethnography of young adults' perceptions and experiences of e-cigarette use.Substance abuse treatment, prevention, and policy · 2021Review
- Article
- Both Nonsmoking Youth and Smoking Adults Like Sweet and Minty E-liquid Flavors More Than Tobacco Flavor.Chemical senses · 2021Article
- An Evaluation of the Knowledge and Perceptions of Pharmacy Staff and Pre-Registration Students of E-Cigarettes Use: A Systematic Review.Tobacco use insights · 2021Review
- An update on controversies in e-cigarettes.Paediatric respiratory reviews · 2020Review
- Exposure to e-cigarette advertising, attitudes, and use susceptibility in adolescents who had never used e-cigarettes or cigarettes.BMC public health · 2020Article
- Tactics for Drawing Youth to Vaping: Content Analysis of Electronic Cigarette Advertisements.Journal of medical Internet research · 2020Article
- Youth vaping and smoking and parental vaping: a panel survey.BMC public health · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveConcerns exist that e-cigarettes may be a gateway to traditional cigarettes and/or (re)normalise teenage smoking. This qualitative study explores how teenagers in the UK currently perceive e-cigarettes and how and why they do or do not use them.
design16 focus groups were conducted across the UK between November 2014 and February 2015, with 83 teenagers aged 14-17. All discussions were digitally recorded, transcribed verbatim, imported into NVivo 10 and thematically analysed.
resultsTeenagers generally agreed that e-cigarettes are useful products for smokers, including teenage smokers, to quit or reduce traditional cigarette use. Concerns were expressed about lack of information on their precise ingredients and any unknown risks for users and bystanders. However, teenagers typically viewed e-cigarettes as substantially less harmful than traditional cigarettes. They perceived e-cigarettes as attractive, with products described as 'fun' and having 'great flavourings'. Seeing websites or social media featuring e-cigarettes, especially YouTube 'vaping tricks', prompted some experimentation and imitation. E-cigarettes were used in a variety of situations, including at parties or when they could not smoke traditional cigarettes. A very few participants suggested covert use was a possibility and that e-cigarettes might help maintain a fledgling nicotine habit.
conclusionsTeenagers support the use of e-cigarettes as smoking cessation aids for established adult smokers. However, they engage with these products differently from adults, with the novel hypothesis that covert use could potentially reinforce traditional cigarette smoking requiring further investigation. Policy responses should more clearly meet the needs of young people, as well as helping established adult smokers.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.