The project concentrates on adolescents aged 14 to 17 where the risk of getting addicted to tobacco and other nicotine products is high. Adolescents like to experiment and adopt behaviours belonging to the adult world. New trends like electronic cigarettes interest them while long-term risks, even if known, are not a concern. Adolescents are potential new consumers of e-cigarettes, heated tobacco as well as chewing tobacco and snus, usually containing highly addictive nicotine and having adverse health effects.
Knowing and understanding adolescent behaviour in the present Nordic context is needed for creation of effective preventive measures and policies. The project aims to answer the following research questions:
What kind of tobacco and nicotine containing tobacco-like products, particularly e-cigarettes, the Nordic adolescents use? Are there differences between the countries?
We use data from the European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs (ESPAD) collected in 2019.
How the Nordic adolescents perceive the reasons behind the use of the novel tobacco-like products? What is the importance of flavours and packaging design in uptake and regular use? How they perceive health risks (e.g. cancer)? How they obtain the products?
We will conduct focus group interviews among 16-17-year old students in vocational schools and gymnasiums.
What is the contemporary regulatory environment for tobacco and nicotine in the Nordic countries? Are there differences in the regulation of these products? What recommendations can be given to NCU?
Comparative policy analysis will be based on information of regulatory schemes in the Nordic countries including legislation and other regulations, official/semi-official tobacco control strategies, recommendations and other relevant sources. The analysis identifies main differences and similarities between the countries’ approaches, possible gaps in regulations and novel regulatory approaches. Recommendations for NCU will be formulated.
Contact: Professor Arja Rimpelä, Tampere University, Faculty of Social Sciences, Unit of Health Sciences, Finland. arja.rimpela@tuni.fi