# Using Social Network Analysis to Understand Peer Influences on ENDS Use

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA · 2021 · $519,309

## Abstract

Abstract
Nicotine consumption in both combustible tobacco (cigarettes) and with electronic nicotine delivery systems
(ENDS), or vaping, has become a serious health threat in the United States, particularly among adolescents.
Decades of research have documented the many ways adolescent social networks, particularly friendship
networks, influence the initiation, continued use, and brand choice of tobacco products. To date, however,
there is no data or research on how friendship networks influence ENDS use. This study addresses this gap by
proposing to add friendship network questions to two newly initiated cohorts of approximately 2,500 high
school students each that are measuring ENDS use. Funding has already been acquired for the data collection
for these cohorts and will start in November 2019 and October 2020. IRB approval to add the social network
questions has been submitted to the IRB after consultation with the director of the USC office for the protection
of human subjects. The friendship network questions to be added ask the students to name their closest
friends in their grade at school. The names of all consented students are pre-entered into a roster so that the
names auto-fill after a few letters are entered. This process has been implemented in other non-nicotine
studies and works well. These data will then be used to test whether adolescents are influenced by their
friends to initiate and continue ENDS use, as well as whether friends influence brand and flavor choices and
marijuana uptake. In addition, network selection processes will be tested which occurs when people make
network changes to be consistent with their behavior. Additional hypotheses to be tested include determining
whether peer influence and selection: (1) are stronger among homophilous and/or stronger ties; (2) extends to
dual- or poly-use; (3) occurs for brands and flavors choices; (4) occurs for dual ENDS and marijuana use.
Given the longitudinal nature of the data we will construct ENDS and tobacco use trajectories and determine if
network changes are associated with different trajectories. In sum, this proposal represents a timely
opportunity to add a crucial piece of data to two newly initiated funded cohorts of school-based adolescent
ENDS studies; namely, friendship network data. Preliminary data from a cross-sectional sample of 1,616
students in one school district in South Dakota showed a strong correlation between individual vaping and
friend vaping. Longitudinal data are needed to determine the direction of this relationship and apply more
sophisticated analytic techniques such as stochastic actor-oriented models.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10179355
- **Project number:** 5R01DA051843-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
- **Principal Investigator:** THOMAS W VALENTE
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $519,309
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2020-09-01 → 2025-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10179355

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10179355, Using Social Network Analysis to Understand Peer Influences on ENDS Use (5R01DA051843-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10179355. Licensed CC0.

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