“Finding out a teen is vaping might be a trigger to investigate further. Is there an underlying mental health issue? Are they vaping to relieve stress or anxiety?” Truong said.
“Or,if it’s already known that there are mental health concerns,does the teen realise that vaping could potentially exacerbate those issues?”
Truong and her co-researcher Eliza Cotton from AIFS,a federal statutory agency that conducts research to inform government policy,reviewed research from Australia on vaping rates among 14-17-year-olds.
The data showed the number of 14-17-year-old Australians who vape has risen almost 12-fold in just four years,from less than 1 per cent in 2018,to 11.8 per cent in 2022.
A 2016study from the United States showed links between cigarette smoking and depression and anxiety,a result which has been mirrored in links between mental health challenges and vaping rates.
One study cited by the AIFS teamshowed 16-24-year-olds with increased depressive symptoms were almost 40 per cent more likely to have tried vaping,and 42 per cent more likely to have vaped in the past 30 days than those without depressive symptoms.
Those with increased anxiety symptoms were almost 20 per cent more likely to have tried vaping than 16-24-year-olds with no anxiety symptoms.