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For teens who want to quit nicotine e-cigarettes, an interactive text messaging program has been found to be effective in helping them quit. Anonymous Program It starts like this: “Ready to quit? A few weeks before or after your quit date, text us the date you want to quit and we’ll give you daily reminders.”
Among adolescents with a history of e-cigarette use, those who participated in a study called This is resignation Teens who participated in the program were 35 percent more likely to quit smoking seven months later than those who did not, according to a study published Wednesday. Medical Journal JAMAThis is Quitting was developed by the Truth Initiative, a nonprofit dedicated to quitting smoking, as a free, anonymous text messaging program designed to help young people quit vaping. Prior to the study, which was funded by the Truth Initiative, there was no data on how to help teens quit vaping, the researchers said.
“This is the first study to demonstrate the effectiveness of a youth smoking cessation program. Since the Truth Initiative launched the program in 2019, more than 780,000 young people across the country have participated in the program,” Dr. Amanda Graham, chief health officer of the Truth Initiative and the study’s principal investigator, said in an email.
“This study is the first to demonstrate the effectiveness of a digital intervention in helping young people quit vaping,” she said. “The text message intervention helped them build the confidence to overcome their nicotine addiction and learn powerful behavior change skills that can last a lifetime.”
E-cigarettes are the most commonly used tobacco product among teenagers.
this 2023 National Youth Tobacco SurveyA survey released in November by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration showed that about 2.1 million middle and high school students are e-cigarette users.
How the program works
The new study involved more than 1,500 U.S. teens, ages 13 to 17, who reported vaping in the past 30 days, with many — about 76 percent — reporting they vaped within 30 minutes of waking up, a sign of nicotine dependence.
Most study participants (about 87%) said they had tried to quit smoking in the past year, and about 94% said they were somewhat or very addicted to e-cigarettes.
Trial participants were recruited through advertisements on social media, including Instagram, Facebook and Snapchat. From October 2021 to October 2023, approximately half of the participants were randomly assigned to the “This is Quitting” text message program.
The text messaging program includes information designed to build confidence and skills to quit smoking, including cognitive and behavioral coping strategies, mindfulness training, breathing exercises, self-care advice, social support, information on smoking cessation medications, and how to contact the crisis text line.
Some SMS in the program They included: “When you feel like vaping, having a cool drink — water, sports drink, iced tea, milk — can help. You can always reply COPE.” or “You did it. You may want to avoid people, places, or things that make you want to vape today (if possible). Text COPE or STRESS if you need to.” The messages also included advice from other young people who are trying to quit smoking.
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