Social media addiction: linked to vaping curiosity. Vape posts: no clear link.

Cohort study. 828 people. followed 1 year (baseline fall 2023, follow-up fall 2024).

People were watched for years. Nobody was told what to do. A clue, not proof.

Who: Mexican-American undergraduate students aged 18-29 at six Texas universities (UT Arlington, UT Dallas, UT El Paso, UT Rio Grande Valley, UT San Antonio, University of Houston System) who had never vaped at baseline; 68.1% female, mean age 20.9; 37.9% at universities near the US-Mexico border

• Hooked on social mediahigherhigher odds
• Friends who vapehigherhigher odds
• Seeing pro-vape postsno clearno clear link

More to know, from our read of the paper:

• Observational: association, not causation (authors: 'these findings do not establish causal relationships'). Residual confounding possible (e.g. sensation seeking, family history, not measured)
• Outcome is SUSCEPTIBILITY (openness to vaping), not vaping: anyone who did not answer 'definitely not' to both questions ('Do you think you will use e-cigarettes in the next 12 months?' / 'If one of your best friends were to offer you an e-cigarette, would you smoke it?') counted as susceptible
• Everything is self-reported, including 'problematic social media use' (6-item Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale) and depressive symptoms (PHQ-9, a screening tool, not a diagnosis)
• Scope: Mexican-American college students in Texas only; selection bias possible (six universities, gift-card incentive). Retention at 1 year 73.3%
• Note to self: the covariate list does not include susceptibility at baseline, so some students may already have been open to vaping at the start; susceptibility was asked of those who had still never vaped at follow-up, and the paper does not say how students who started vaping during the year were handled (complete-case analysis)

This cohort study followed 828 Mexican-American college students in Texas who had never vaped, for one year. Students who scored higher on a social media addiction scale had higher odds of being open to vaping a year later, and so did students with more friends who vape. How often they saw pro-vaping posts showed no clear link once other factors were taken into account. Everything was self-reported, and openness to vaping is not the same as vaping: linked, not proven.

We read the abstract and the full text of this paper and checked every number on this page against it (16 facts, checked on 2026-10-29). The study design is named above. Cohort and other observational studies are described as linked, not proven. Found an error? Email theis@onestudyaday.com.