DOI: 10.5064/f6lqgclg
title: Youth and Adult Responses to E-cigarette Warning Messages - Focus Group Transcripts

description: &lt;p&gt;
&lt;h3&gt;Project Overview&lt;/h3&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The broader project explored response to nuanced messages, described in the study as warnings, that communicate information on the toxicity of ingredients in e-cigarettes, potential health risks, addiction to nicotine, and the uncertainty of the science regarding health effects of using these products. Youth (N=32) and adult (N=37) participants with various smoking and vaping experiences discussed the messages in focus group settings, to determine how they respond to hypothetical warning statements.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
&lt;h3&gt;Data Overview&lt;/h3&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Data were collected via a qualitative focus-group study of e-cigarette advertising and warning messages. A research firm with expertise in qualitative methods (C + R Research) recruited participants from a national database and conducted the focus groups. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the discussions were conducted through a live video- and audio-enabled online platform during the summer of 2020. At least one member of the research team served as an observer for each of the 16 sessions. Research team members were not visible to the focus group participants, nor did they take an active part in the discussions. The focus groups were audio recorded and used to generate verbatim transcripts.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Adult participants (N = 37) were drawn from three groups of smokers:&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ol type="1"&gt;
&lt;li&gt;dual users of cigarettes and e-cigarettes (N = 12, 2 groups)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;former combustible cigarette smokers who switched entirely to e-cigarettes (N = 7, 2 groups)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;current users of only combustible cigarettes (N = 18, 4 groups).&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ol&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Youth participants (N=32) were grouped by:&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ol type="1"&gt;
&lt;li&gt;those who never used combustible cigarettes or e-cigarettes and&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;those who used/tried e-cigarettes only.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ol&gt;

&lt;p&gt;The focus group study tested 21 hypothetical warning statements that were modified from publicly available e-cigarette warning statements from public health sources such as the FDA, the Truth Campaign, the CDC, and the Surgeon General. Participants also saw e-cigarette advertisements containing the then current FDA-mandated warning. The warning statements focused on the ingredients in e-cigarettes, health impacts of e-cigarette use, developmental impacts of using e-cigarettes, addictiveness of e-cigarettes, and potential unknown risk of using these products, both in absolute terms and relative to combustible cigarettes. Sixteen statements included qualified or uncertain language. Each group of participants saw eight warning statements. All participants viewed at least one warning in each category, and the order in which participants viewed warning statements was randomly assigned.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
&lt;h3&gt;Selection and Organization of Shared Data&lt;/h3&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The data files consist of the focus group transcripts separated by gender and age group (organized in two higher-level folders: "Adults" and "Youth"). The documentation files consist of: a recruitment screener for adults, a recruitment screener for youth, the consent and assent forms used, the focus group discussion guide, a document illustrating the focus group stimuli, and a document recording the relevant attributes (age, gender, smoking experience) of each participant category.&lt;/p&gt;