A vast majority of U.S. young adults use social media such as Facebook and Instagram daily. Research suggests that young adults are commonly exposed to e-cigarette-related marketing or user-generated content on the social media they use. Currently, however, there is limited empirical evidence as to how social media e-cigarette exposure is associated with e-cigarette use beliefs and behavior. In particular, limited evidence exists to support the proposition that social media e-cigarette exposure is uniquely associated with e-cigarette use, even after adjusting for the effects of e-cigarette use in young adults' in-person or 'offline' social networks. This study was conducted to test the hypotheses that 1) social media e-cigarette exposure is associated with e-cigarette use outcome expectancies and current e-cigarette use; and 2) the association between social media and e-cigarette use is linked via outcome expectancies. We collected cross-sectional data from a sample of 470 young adult college students in Hawaii. Hypotheses were tested by fitting a structural equation model to the data. The model accounted for the associations of demographic variables, cigarette smoking history, as well as e-cigarette use in individuals' actual social networks with expectancies and behavior. Results indicated that social media e-cigarette exposure was associated with current e-cigarette use indirectly through two of the four positive outcome expectancies examined, namely, positive "smoking" experience and positive sensory experience. We discuss the implications of the findings in the context of tobacco control efforts.

By 2000, the Internet became an information and communication medium that was integrated in our everyday lives. Following an interdisciplinary approach, the research reported in this article analyzes the wide variety of information that people seek on the Internet and investigates trends in Internet information activities between 2000 and 2004, using repeated cross-sectional data from the Pew Internet & American Life surveys to examine Internet activities that contribute to everyday life and their predictors. The objective is to deepen our understanding of Internet activities and everyday life and contribute to a growing body of research that utilizes large-scale empirical data on Internet use and everyday life. We ask: who is embedding the Internet into their everyday lives and what are the activities they pursue to facilitate everyday life? Findings demonstrate the differential returns for Internet use, particularly in key demographic categories. The study also contributes to emerging research on the digital divide, namely emphasis on the study of use rather than access to technology. Identifying trends in key Internet use dimensions enables policymakers to target populations who underutilize the potential of networked technologies. IntroductionThe research reported in this article analyzes the wide variety of information that people seek on the Internet and investigates trends in Internet information activities with attention to the context for these activities. We subscribe to Kari and Savolainen's (2003) admonition that "exploring the context and role of Internet searching is imperative if we aspire to genuinely understand real-life Web utilization" (p. 156). Moreover, as Fisher et al. 's (2005) work shows, people obtain many different types of information from multiple sources, use multiple channels, and in different locations, of which the Internet has become an important one (Harwood & Rainie, 2004;Rainie, Fox, & Fallows, 2003; Horrigan, Garrett, & Resnick, 2004). The objective is to deepen our understanding of Internet activities and everyday life and contribute to a growing body of research that utilizes empirical data on Internet use and everyday life. (See, for example, Howard & Jones, 2004;Katz & Rice, 2002; Kraut, Brynin, & Kiesler, 2006;Wellman & Haythornthwaite, 2002).The empirical research reported here originates in an analysis to evaluate theoretical frameworks, methodologies, and empirical findings in library and information science (LIS) and social science disciplines that have examined information behavior in a variety of contexts. We have concluded that an interdisciplinary approach that integrates theories of everyday information practices with theories from communication and media behavior, political science, social psychology, and sociology will substantially improve our understandings of information behavior, more generally, and guide the development of contextually-based models of everyday life information seeking on the Web, more specifically.The research reported here focu...

Purpose: To determine the prevalence of, and the risk and protective factors associated with, tobacco product use among adolescents in Guam, a US-Affiliated Pacific Island (USAPI) territory. To examine disparities in risk and protective factors across indigenous and nonindigenous groups. Design: Quantitative; cross-sectional. Setting: Middle and high schools in Guam. Sample: The Global Youth Tobacco Survey sample included a representative sample of 2449 6th to 12th graders (71% response rate). Sample for the supplemental study included 670 middle school students (76% response rate across randomly selected classrooms). Measures: Self-reported measures of lifetime and past 30-day tobacco and betel nut use, social competence, resistance self-efficacy, risk perceptions, friend and family tobacco product use, and ease of access to tobacco products. Analysis: Multilevel logistic regression and analysis of covariance. Results: The prevalence rates of current cigarette, smokeless tobacco, and e-cigarette use among middle school students were 8%, 8%, and 25%, respectively. Ability to resist social pressure to use tobacco/betel nut use was strongly associated with lower likelihood of tobacco (odds ratio [OR] = 0.76; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.68-0.84) and betel nut use (OR = 0.74; 95% CI: 0.67-0.82). Indigenous Pacific Islanders scored significantly lower on protective and higher on risk factors. Conclusion: Tobacco product use rates among Guam middle school students appear to be 4 to 5 times higher than the US national average rates. There is an urgent need for developing tobacco and betel nut use prevention programs for USAPI youth that are tailored to the needs of indigenous Pacific Islanders.

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Betel (areca) nut is an addictive substance chewed with or without tobacco widely in Asia and the Pacific, including the U.S.-affiliated Pacific Islands (USPI). Betel nut use has been found to cause oral cancer. Research suggests that most betel nut use initiation occurs in adolescence. However, very little is currently known about the etiology of adolescent betel nut use. The present study reports findings of a formative, qualitative research conducted to understand the attitudinal and social factors associated with adolescent betel nut use in USAPI. The objective was to develop a theoretical framework of adolescent betel nut etiology that would guide the development of a prevention program. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 adolescent betel nut users (M age = 14.5; SD = 2.2) from Guam. Findings suggested a framework of adolescent betel nut etiology in which intrapersonal, social, and environmental factors influence betel nut use behavior. The framework is consistent with ecological frameworks of adolescent substance use in which proximal personal and social influences on adolescent substance use occur within the context of a wider socio-cultural context conducive to adolescent substance use. Specifically, we found that beliefs such as betel nut tastes good and induces relaxation represent some of the betel nut use motives; parental permissiveness and peer and sibling use encourage betel nut use; and cultural acceptance and easy accessibility to betel nuts provide an environmental context conducive to betel nut use. Findings are discussed in the context of developing an adolescent betel nut use prevention program.