Parents helping Parents for Youth Vaping Cessation (PhP-VX)

Project Summary Youth electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) use is a public health concern. Many youths are eager to quit vaping, and our prior study estimated that 67.3% of adolescent vapers reported past-year quit attempts, with an average of 5.3 times past-year quit attempts. However, the overall success of vaping cessation remains low, and a majority

of adolescent vapers had unassisted quit attempts. Meanwhile, current e-cigarette use is significantly more prevalent among high school than middle school students, and over 90% of frequent adolescent vapers are those aged 15-18-years old. It is imperative to develop age-appropriate vaping cessation interventions with a

focus on older adolescents to address their specific needs, thus curbing the high vaping prevalence among this vulnerable population. The family environment is essential for youth growth, and parental support has long been documented as a critical protective factor for youth substance use. In 2022, nearly 1 in 6 adolescent vapers

seeking assistance for quitting had already sought advice from their parents or caregivers, and more adolescent vapers had asked for advice from their parents than using a mobile app or text messaging program. Peer coach has been a successful strategy in tobacco and other substance cessation programs, and connecting parents of

current adolescent vapers with the community of parents who have successfully helped their kids quit vaping can be an effective intervention to improve the intervention fidelity and effectiveness. Grounded on the Social Influence model and the Social Cognitive Theory, this feasibility study aims to develop and test a Parents-

helping-Parents for youth Vaping Cessation (PhP-VX) program by providing parent-facilitated youth vaping cessation intervention. In Aim 1, our multidisciplinary team will partner with Parents Against Vaping e-cigarettes (PAVe), a national advocacy and education organization with nearly 14,000 race/ethnic diverse parent

supporters, to advance the translation of epidemiological research on youth vaping and inputs from an advisory board (i.e., parents and adolescents) into a multifaceted vaping intervention that provides online training sessions and weekly parent-to-parent support. In Aim 2, We will conduct a feasibility pilot test with 100 dyads recruited

through pediatric EHR systems, with half receiving the “PhP-VX” program and the other half in the control group for 3 months, with assessments conducted at baseline, 3-month, and 6-month follow-up. In Aim 3, we will explore the effectiveness of the intervention with saliva cotinine-validated past 7-day point prevalence abstinence as the

primary outcome. This study is novel for using EHR to identify and enroll adolescent e-cigarette users and incorporating PhP peer support into the youth vaping cessation program. This feasibility study is highly significant in addressing youth vaping cessation in partnership with a robust community-based organization. The success

of this R34 study will prepare us for a future R01 pragmatic trial to test the efficacy of PhP-VX through EHR and parent support in multiple pediatric clinics. 1