Adolescents with deficits in executive function were almost five times more likely to use e-cigarettes than were those without deficits, Dr. Mary Ann Pentz and her coauthors from the University of Southern, Los Angeles, reported.
A study of 410 7th-grade students from two Southern California school districts found that both parent ownership of e-cigarettes (odds ratio, 2.29; 95% confidence interval, 1.01-5.15) and executive function deficits (OR, 4.99; 95% CI, 1.80-13.86) were significantly associated with e-cigarette use, the authors reported.
The findings suggest that “substance use prevention programs should include e-cigarette use and emphasize [executive function] skills training that targets emotional regulation, impulse control, goal setting, and planful decision-making,” Dr. Pentz and her associates said.
Read the full article in Addictive Behaviors (2015;42:73-8).
