Are you concerned about a young person you know vaping?
Vaping is growing increasingly popular among young people in the UK. A survey by Action on Smoking and Health (ASH)[1] has shown that just over a fifth (21%) of children aged 11-17 had tried vaping in 2023, although this appears to have fallen to 17% in 2024.
The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID)[2] state that vapes are useful tools to quit smoking, but they are not designed to be used by people who do not smoke, or by anyone under the age of 18. In fact, it is against the law to sell vapes to anyone under the age of 18 or buy vapes on behalf of someone who is under the age of 18.
You may feel that it is important to talk to a young person about vaping to discourage them from starting or encourage them to stop. Motivational interviewing (MI) is an approach to conversations that aims to support someone to change their behaviour. While there has been little research looking at the effectiveness of MI in supporting young people to stop vaping, one study has found that 60% of young adults stopped vaping following MI,[3] and it is often considered a useful approach to encourage vaping cessation.[4]
MI is a counselling technique, which usually requires training and practice, but you can draw on some of the principles and skills when you are having a conversation. Below are 7 tips to help you talk to a young person about vaping.
1. Be open-minded and non-judgmental and try to see things from their point of view
While it might be challenging, it is important to stay calm and try to understand why they might be vaping (or thinking about vaping).
From gathering insights from young people about vaping, we learnt that it is a social behaviour, and something that they often do to try and fit in with their peers.
It may also be something that they do to cope with stress or mental health problems.
Try and be empathetic and remember that you do not necessarily have to agree with their perspective, but you should be open to hearing their point of view instead of trying to push your thoughts onto them.
2. Ask permission
It is useful to stop and ask permission before jumping in and telling the young person what to do.
Consider asking them if they are happy to have a conversation about vaping or if you can give them some advice about vaping. This shows that you respect them and helps them to feel safe and in control.
If they say no, back off and try to approach the conversation at another time. You could try setting up opportunities to have this conversation, like leaving out a news story about vaping or pointing out vapes that have been littered on the street. It might be that they would be happier to have this conversation with someone else like a particular family member, teacher or a family friend.
If they say yes, then they will probably be more actively engaged in the conversation.
3. Be curious and try to explore the topic with them
Explore their thoughts and feelings about vaping, ask them about their motivations and reasons for vaping or not vaping, gather information about what support they need to stop/not start vaping.
You can do this with open discovery questions, which are open questions that start with ‘what’ or ‘how’. For example:
- How do you feel about vaping?
- What made you want to start vaping?
- If you were going to stop vaping, how would you go about doing it? What support would you need?
These questions allow the young person to lead the conversation and remove any judgement from the question.
4. Be open and honest
Being honest is an important part of building trust. Try to give the young person accurate information about vaping.
It is also important to be clear and honest upfront about when you might have to share what has been said with someone else, particularly if you are a professional adhering to your organisation’s confidentiality policy.
5. Show them that you support them
Show the young person that you are there to support them. Use affirmations, which are positive statements which support and comment on a young person’s strengths, motivations, intentions and progress. These help to build self-esteem and motivation and help to keep the conversation positive.
Use listening skills, considering:
- Eye contact
- Body language
- Tone
- Pace
- Creating space
Reflections are helpful to show that you are listening and understanding the young person while they are talking. This is where you mirror back what they are saying. For example:
Young person: “All my friends are vaping, if I don’t, they will call me a wimp.”
Reflection: “Your friends vape and call you names if you don’t.”
6. Help them to make a plan and set goals
If you are supporting a young person to stop vaping, it can be helpful to set make a plan to stop. One effective way to do this is by setting SMART goals.
SMART goals help to give a goal more direction, and give more motivation to stick to them. SMART goals should be:
- Specific – precise and unambiguous so that there is no room to misinterpret them.
- Measurable – progress should be easy to track, we should be able to measure our progress towards the end of the goal.
- Achievable – it should be a challenge but well enough defined that we can actually achieve it. We can ask ourselves:
- Realistic – the goal should be something we will actually do given our resources and time, to avoid setbacks. Basically, it is likely to be realistic if we believe that we can do it.
- Timely – we should plan when we are going to do this behaviour and how often we are going to do it. There should also be a start and finish date to create a sense of urgency.
When quitting vaping, a young person might relapse. This is a normal part of behaviour change, and it is important that we accept that but what is important is that the young person learns from it. We can prevent relapse by making if-then plans, which help us to plan for things that might get in the way of changing our behaviour. To help a young person to make an if-then plan:
- Ask them to think of things that might get in the way of quitting vaping
- Ask them to come up with actions that they can take if those things happen
If-then plans should be structured as “If *that* happens, then I will do *this*.”
For example:
- “If I get a strong craving to vape, then I will have a lollipop.”
- “If I am feeling stressed and think this might cause me to vape, I will do a few minutes of meditation.”
From our research with young people, we know that most young people start vaping with their friends. If you are talking to a young person who has not vaped but you are worried that they might, you can work with them to come up with ways to say no if they are in a position where they feel pressured to vape. For example:
- “No thanks, I don’t want to vape because we don’t know all the long-term impacts yet.”
- “Sorry I really need to get back home!”
7. Do your research
Before you head into this conversation, it is a good idea to make sure you are informed about vaping so you can be prepared to give advice or answer questions.
It is important to give honest and accurate information about vaping.
You can use our free resource packs to access information and resources to learn more about youth vaping.
Key takeaways
Many young people are vaping in the UK, despite it being illegal for them to buy vapes if they are under 18. If you are worried about a young person who is at-risk of, or already is, vaping. These conversations should be approached in a non-judgmental and empathetic way, making sure to allow the young person to share their point of view.
Want more?
If you are interested in educational vaping workshops for young people, parents or professionals please get in touch.
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[1] ASH (2024). New figures show youth vaping has plateaued while adult vaping is at an all-time high. https://ash.org.uk/media-centre/news/press-releases/new-figures-show-youth-vaping-has-plateaued-while-adult-vaping-is-at-an-all-time-high
[2] OHID (2022). Nicotine vaping in England: 2022 evidence update. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nicotine-vaping-in-england-2022-evidence-update
[3] Steinberg, M. L., Rosen, R. L., Ortiz, J. C., Billingsley, B., Steinberg, M. B., & Burnett, D. (2022). Motivational interviewing for e-cigarette cessation induction in young adults delivered via telehealth plus nicotine patch. https://psyarxiv.com/8z94j/download/?format=pdf
[4] Ward, N., Renteria, F., Riley, E., Hughes, M. F., Whited, T., & Binz, J. (2023). Current practice to address adolescent vaping in primary care. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1555415523002532