Youth's perception of parental limitation of youth screen time is associated with lower odds of nicotine vaping among US youth: Results from the 2024 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH).

BACKGROUND

Youth media exposure is associated with vaping, while parental limitation of youth screen time may be associated with lower odds of youth vaping. Using nationally representative survey data, this study examines these relationships.

METHODS

We used youth (aged 12-17) data from the 2024 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (N = 11,334) and defined past-month nicotine vaping as a binary variable (yes/no). Past-year youth's perception of parental limitation of youth screen time (television, tablets, smartphones, computers, and video games) was categorized as never, seldom, sometimes, or always. To estimate associations between youth's perception of parental limitation of screen time and past-month nicotine vaping, we conducted binomial logistic regression, controlling for relevant covariates.

RESULTS

Overall, 5.5% of adolescents reported past-month nicotine vaping; 29.9% reported that parents never limited screen time, compared with 16.6% who reported always limiting screen time. In adjusted models, higher levels of youth's perception of screen time limitation were associated with lower odds of past-month nicotine vaping (AOR = 0.78, 95% CI = 0.66, 0.92). Several sensitivity analyses validated the findings.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings identify that youth's perception of parental limitation of screen time was associated with lower odds of nicotine vaping among youth. Future studies should assess direct parental reports of restriction of youth screen time and examine comprehensive media-use approaches that combine screen-time limits in addition to general parenting practices.