Study finds vaping risk rises with childhood trauma

With one in six Australian high school students vaping, and students who have vaped 29 times more likely to go on to try smoking, the substance’s impacts are an ever-growing public health issue.
 
Amid this vaping surge, Australian-first research has used Health4Life study data and examined surveys from 2234 year 7 and 8 students from 33 schools across three states.
 
Researchers asked about trauma history at age 12 and vape use at age 15 and found teenagers who had experienced trauma by age 12 are more likely, at age 15, to say they have tried vaping (64%), vape regularly (63%) or intend to vape in the future (44%).
 
‘(Childhood traumatic experiences) CTE exposed adolescents represent a priority group who may require earlier and more targeted vaping intervention,’ the study concluded.
 
The researchers now hope this data will encourage health practitioners to prioritise adolescents who have experienced CTE for tailored supports, including preventative approaches.
 
Chair of RACGP Specific Interests Child and Young Person’s Health Dr Tim Jones welcomed the research, saying vaping continues to be ‘so much in the eyes and in the minds of our young people’.
 
‘Children are resilient creatures, and if they experience traumatic events in their development, they're going to attempt to find solutions for them,’ he told newsGP.
 
‘It makes sense that a readily available product that allows you to hopefully detach from your experience of difficulties is going to present itself as the solution at that time.
 
‘We're not going to address vaping as a phenomenon unless we understand why people vape, and that it is both an individual choice and a societal and a cultural phenomenon, and we need to be approaching every layer of that to get good results.’
 
In the wake of the study, Dr Jones says GPs play a crucial role in curbing young peoples’ vaping habits, but doctors must show a ‘willingness to talk to children and young people about adverse experiences in their development’.
 
‘Sometimes we can be guilty of “don't ask, don't tell”, even though we know that in so many other areas of a person's wellbeing, people want to be asked,’ he said.
 
‘There is really nothing you can't talk about with a young person, but they're very rarely going to volunteer it.
 
‘I don't think we should be waiting until we find out the young people are vaping to have those conversations.’
 
As Australia continues to battle against its vaping epidemic, the Commonwealth has launched several crackdowns on the sale and advertising of vaping products.
 
Since 1 January 2024, joint Australian Border Force and Therapeutic Goods Administration efforts have resulted in the seizure and surrender of more than 6.5 million vaping products, valued at more than $195.5 million. 
 
On Wednesday, the Federal Government also announced the national rollout of the OurFutures program which aims to put ‘vaping education and intervention in reach of all students regardless of school resources’.
 
Developed collaboratively by health experts, students and teachers, the program will be accessible to for year 7 and 8 students in more than 3000 Australian schools.
 
The expansion comes after a trial of OurFutures found that immediately after receiving the program, students had significantly reduced intentions to vape and improved knowledge about its risks.

OurFutures Chief Investigator Associate Professor Emily Stockings said she now hopes the program’s expansion will make ‘significant strides’ towards preventing vaping
 
‘This unique, evidence-based program provides young people with a toolkit of skills that can be used in the real world to prevent vaping and smoking,’ she said.
 
‘We know these kinds of coping skills can also have flow on effects on mental health and wellbeing.’
 
For Dr Jones, he says that ‘in my own world as a practitioner’, he is trying to talk to families and children proactively about developmental influences, including vaping, more and more.
 
‘We should be getting to know what's having a positive and an adverse impact on the development of our kids, even before they enter adolescence, so that we know who's most at risk,’ he said.
 
‘Having an awareness of what issues may contribute and developing our own phrases to bring them up in a way that's sensitive and person specific is very important.’
 
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adolescent health childhood trauma smoking tobacco vaping