Network Intervention to Prevent Vaping

Rates of adolescent vaping are increasing rapidly. Current high school student use of electronic vaping products (EVPs) rose from 1.5% in 2011 to 20.8% in 2018 - an increase from 220,000 to 3.05 million adolescent users. Effective, school-based interventions are urgently needed to protect adolescents from initiating or continuing use of electronic vaping products (EVPs). This study leverages a state-supported prevention initiative to test the effectiveness of a promising intervention that trains 8th-9th grade student peer leaders to deliver school-wide vaping prevention campaigns with ongoing adult mentoring. If study hypotheses are supported, the study will provide the first evidence of a school-based preventive intervention that reduces adolescent vaping behaviors, as well as insight into how peer communications can be harnessed to prevent vaping.