Emotion Dysregulation and E-Cigarette Expectancies among College Student E-Cigarette Users

Abstract

Background: E-cigarette outcome expectancies (i.e., beliefs about the expected consequences of e-cigarette use) are a key factor in motivating use. Emotion regulation difficulties have demonstrated significant associations with outcome expectancies; however, there has yet to be an examination of associations between specific emotion regulation difficulties and specific e-cigarette outcome expectancies, which could serve as targets for intervention efforts. Therefore, the current study sought to examine the unique predictive ability of specific emotion regulation difficulties in terms of e-cigarette outcome expectancies. Methods: Participants were 116 college student e-cigarette users (M_age = 19.72, SD = 1.88; 71.6% female) who completed self-report questionnaires for course credit. Results: Greater difficulties engaging in goal-directed behavior when experiencing negative emotions and fewer difficulties accessing effective emotion regulation strategies were associated with positive reinforcement outcome expectancies. Greater emotion regulation difficulties in general were also associated with negative reinforcement outcome expectancies, though there were no significant individual predictors. Conclusion: These results suggest that greater emotion regulation difficulties are associated with mood-related e-cigarette outcome expectancies, and targeting emotion regulation difficulties, particularly difficulty engaging in goal-directed behavior when upset, may be useful to incorporate into intervention efforts.

Keywords:

• College students
• e-cigarettes
• emotion regulation
• expectancies

Disclosure statement

The authors report there is no conflict of interest.

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, A.C.M., upon reasonable request.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported, in part, by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and FDA Center for Tobacco Products under Award Number U54HL120163 and the American Heart Association under Award Number 20YVNR35500014. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health, the Food and Drug Administration, or the University of Louisville. The funding sponsors had no role in study design; data collection, analyses, or interpretation; manuscript preparation; or the decision to publish the results.