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The Theory of Planned Behavior and E-cig Use: Impulsive Personality, E-cig Attitudes, and E-cig Use

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Abstract

The current paper applied the theory of planned behavior (TPB; Ajzen and Fishbein 1988) to understand how impulsive personality traits and attitudes concerning e-cig use relate to the likelihood of electronic cigarette (e-cig) use. Seven hundred fourteen participants (mean age = 34.04, SD = 10.89, 48.6% female) completed cross-sectional measures of e-cig use attitudes (CEAC) and the Short UPPS-P Impulsive Behavior Scale. A structural path analysis suggested that urgency and deficits in conscientiousness were significantly related to e-cig attitudes (CFI = 0.99, TLI = 0.99, RMSEA = 0.02; urgency: β = 0.32, p = .001; deficits in conscientiousness: β = −0.48, p < .001). E-cig attitude scores were significantly higher for e-cig users than non-users, β = 0.85, p < .001. There was no significant direct path from impulsive personality traits to e-cig use. Findings provide initial support for a model in which impulsive traits are related to e-cig use through positive e-cig attitudes.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Indiana University-Purdue University in Indianapolis, 402 N. Blackford St. LD 124, Indianapolis, IN, 46202, USA

    Alexandra Hershberger, Miranda Connors, Miji Um & Melissa A. Cyders

Authors
  1. Alexandra Hershberger
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  2. Miranda Connors
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  3. Miji Um
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  4. Melissa A. Cyders
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Alexandra Hershberger.

Ethics declarations

All procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2000. The study received Institutional Review Board Approval from Indiana University. Informed consent was obtained from all participants for being included in the study.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare they have no conflict of interest.

Funding

Funding for this research was awarded from the IUPUI Department of Psychology to Alexandra Hershberger. The preparation of this manuscript was supported in part by an F31 grant to Alexandra Hershberger (F31 AA024682) under the mentorship of Melissa A. Cyders.

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Hershberger, A., Connors, M., Um, M. et al. The Theory of Planned Behavior and E-cig Use: Impulsive Personality, E-cig Attitudes, and E-cig Use. Int J Ment Health Addiction 16, 366–376 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-017-9783-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-017-9783-6

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