How COVID Lockdowns Shaped Teen Vaping Risk

Surveillance and reviews showed that COVID-19 lockdowns reduced some in‑person vaping opportunities while amplifying stress, isolation, and online exposure, pressing clinicians and school health teams to broaden screening and prevention priorities.

Recent research documented increased anxiety, depression, and loneliness among adolescents during lockdowns, which are established risk factors for substance initiation and escalation. Increased screen time and exposure to e‑cigarette content online plausibly amplified susceptibility through reward‑seeking, coping, and social‑learning pathways, as cross‑sectional analyses demonstrate.

Population surveillance and cohort work showed an early decline in youth vaping tied to reduced peer and retail access during stay‑at‑home orders, a pattern documented in national surveys. Nonetheless, a subset of adolescents adapted by seeking online purchases or relying on household sources, and scoping reviews flag weak age‑verification and enforcement online as persistent concerns. Clinically, therefore, it's important to ask explicitly about online procurement, household device availability, and parental supervision patterns during preventive visits.