Bidirectional relationships between nicotine vaping and maladaptive eating behaviors among young adults

Background: Past research indicates that young adult cigarette smokers are at risk of engaging in maladaptive eating behaviors (MEBs); however, whether this relationship extends to nicotine vaping is unclear. The current study assessed bidirectional associations between four types of MEBs and nicotine vaping among young adults. Methods: 1,303 young adults (20.5 +/- 2.3 years; 63 % female) from a public, urban university were recruited and completed online surveys at six-month intervals from spring 2021 (W1) to spring 2023 (W5). Past 30-day nicotine vaping and four types of MEBs (susceptibility to external cues, emotional eating, routine restraint, and compensatory restraint) were evaluated. Results: Longitudinal cross-lagged models examined the bidirectional relationships between past 30-day nicotine vaping and each type of MEB across five waves. Nicotine vaping predicted both susceptibility to external cues (beta = 0.10, p <.05; Wave 2 to 3) and emotional eating (beta = 0.08, p <.05; Wave 1 to 2). A significant cross-lag regression (Wave 4 to 5) showed nicotine vaping predicted to routine restraint (beta = 0.08, p <.05), and routine restraint predicted to nicotine vaping (beta = 0.12, p <.05). Conclusions: Results indicated that nicotine vaping predicted MEBs; however, the type of MEB differed across waves, which may have been due to the COVID-19 pandemic context. Nicotine vaping predicted to MEBs reflecting vulnerability to the external environment and emotion regulation during a period of heightened restrictions, whereas later when pandemic restrictions had ceased nicotine vaping predicted only to routine restraint. Integrating research and practice on nicotine vaping and MEBs may inform public health efforts to decrease co-occurring health-risks in young adulthood.