Goal 1: E-Cigarette Cessation

E-cigarettes are the most popular nicotine-delivery device used by US adolescents; in 2021, over 2 million adolescents reported past month use of e-cigarettes, and of these a quarter reported daily use of e-cigarettes. Many adolescents state that they do not like being addicted to e-cigarettes and want to quit. However, there are few evidence-based interventions that address adolescent-specific triggers for e-cigarette use and have wide dissemination potential. Our work focuses on developing treatment options for students who want to quit e-cigarette use. Below we detail our programs that include individualized treatment programs such as “Quit Nicotine” and “Kick-Nic!©.”

1. Quit Nicotine Program

High school aged regular e-cigarette users who are eligible can participate in our Quit Nicotine Program in which we utilize a behavioral treatment platform that combines virtual in-person Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for vaping cessation with behavioral reinforcement strategies (known as contingency management). Our CBT manual was developed following extensive qualitative work with high school youth on the appeal of e-cigarettes and what they would want to see in a e-cigarette cessation intervention. This intervention will assign high schoolers to one of two groups. Group 1 will receive a combination of weekly virtual CBT counseling and reinforcements for regular attendance. Group 2 will receive weekly virtual CBT counseling and reinforcements for being nicotine free. Youth will be provided with tablets to connect with their therapists and will also be provided with instructions on how to access a remote platform that will assess and reward being nicotine-free.

Heather LaVallee, LMFT
Email: Heather.Sarnataro@yale.edu
Phone: 203-974-7373
Fax: 203-974-7606

2. Kick-Nic!©

We have developed an adolescent-focused e-cigarette cessation smartphone app called Kick-Nic!©. This app was developed using a rigorous, iterative process with feedback from high school and young adult e-cigarette users on content, structure, and design. Kick-Nic!© has many innovative features including; 1) Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) content, which incorporates youth-specific triggers and information, to help with e-cigarette cessation, 2) appealing media-rich and interactive content based on the format of the successful web-based CBT intervention, CBT4CBT©, and 3) an app-based platform designed to increase appeal and dissemination. Currently, we are evaluating the use of this app with local high school students to aid in further development. Additionally, we plan to test this intervention with a small group of high school youth.

Melissa Gordon
Email: Melissa.Gordon@yale.edu