Social Media Vaping Cessation Pilot With Peer Mentors

Single-Arm Social Media Vaping Cessation Trial With Peer Mentors

The purpose of this study is to understand the feasibility and acceptability of integrating peer mentoring into a social media-based intervention to help adolescents and young adults quit e-cigarette use.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Social Support; Vaping
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Quit the Hit (QTH) Program with Peer Mentoring

Detailed Description

This study is a one-arm pilot trial with adolescent and young adult e-cigarette users. This study tested a peer-mentored program to help teens and young adults quit vaping using social media. Participants joined one of two inter groups and received messages from a trained counselor over 5 weeks. Each group also included two peer mentors who had successfully quit vaping and offered support. Participants completed surveys before and after the program.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 27
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • California
    • San Francisco, California, United States, 94143
      • University of California, San Francisco

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Child; Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion criteria for intervention participants:

1. English literacy;
2. aged 13 to 21;
3. use social media at least four days per week;
4. vape at least once per week in the past 30 days;
5. are considering or interested in quitting within the next six months or 30 days; and
6. resided in California.

Inclusion criteria for peer mentors:

1. English literacy;
2. aged 18-29;
3. have quit e-cigarettes for more than 3 months;
4. are willing to participate in an approximately 2-hour online training and pass the test after training; and
5. will commit to provide support to help peers quit vaping in Instagram groups for 5 weeks (approximately 20 mins/day).

Exclusion criteria for intervention participants:

Individuals who do not meet the inclusion criteria.

Exclusion criteria for peer mentors:

Those who report using other tobacco products or substances and those with active mental health conditions will be excluded

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Intervention / Treatment

Experimental: Peer-Mentored Vaping Cessation Intervention; Adolescents and young adults received the Quit the Hit (QTH) vaping cessation program delivered via Instagram over 5 weeks. A trained counselor posted 1-3 evidence-based vaping cessation messages per weekday. Each group included two peer mentors, aged similarly to participants, who had successfully quit vaping and provided social support and guidance. Participants completed baseline and follow-up surveys.

Behavioral: Quit the Hit (QTH) Program with Peer Mentoring; The QTH program delivered 1-3 evidence-based vaping cessation messages per weekday via Instagram over 5 weeks. Peer mentors, aged similarly to participants and who had successfully quit vaping, provided social support, encouragement, and one-on-one direct messaging.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Feasibility: Engagement and retention	Engagement measured by number of posts and likes in the Instagram group. Retention defined as proportion completing the 5-week follow-up survey.	5 Weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Perceived Usefulness of Peer Mentoring	Perceived usefulness was assessed in the follow-up survey with 9 statements, measuring agreement using a 5-point Likert scale (1 disagree a lot to 5 agree a lot). Example items included "the peer mentors helped me quit vaping," "the peer mentors shared useful information on quitting," and "the peer mentors increased my confidence that I can quit."	5 Weeks
Satisfaction with Peer Mentoring	Satisfaction with peer mentoring was assessed with six statements on the follow-up survey, measuring agreement using a 5-point Likert scale (1 = disagree a lot to 5 = agree a lot). Items included "I liked the peer mentoring in the program," "I felt comfortable with the messages I got from peer mentors," "the peer mentors sent messages at convenient times of day," etc. Additionally, participants rated their satisfaction with the quantity of peer mentor posts on a 5-point scale by responding to the item	5 Weeks
Evaluation of the program	The overall evaluation of the peer mentored vaping cessation program was measured using four statements, measuring agreement on a 5-point Likert scale (1 = disagree a lot to 5 = agree a lot). The four items were "I would recommend this program to others", "The program gave me something new to think about", "I thought about what I read in the program", and "The program was easy to understand."	5 Weeks
Self-Reported 7-Day Point Prevalent Abstinence (PPA) from vaping	7-day point prevalence abstinence (PPA) will be assessed via the question about the number of days they used e-cigarettes in the past 7 days at the end of the intervention. Participants reporting no vaping in the past 7 days will be coded as abstinent.	5 Weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of California, San Francisco
• Collaborators: National Cancer Institute (NCI); Tobacco Related Disease Research Program
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Pamela M Ling, MD, University of California, San Francisco; Principal Investigator: Chen Joanne Lyu, PhD, University of California, San Francisco

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): June 19, 2024
• Primary Completion (Actual): July 30, 2024
• Study Completion (Actual): August 3, 2024

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: February 20, 2026
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 20, 2026
• First Posted (Actual): February 27, 2026

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): February 27, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 25, 2026
• Last Verified: February 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Peer Support; Mentoring; Vaping Cessation
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Behavior; Smoking; Vaping
• Other Study ID Numbers: F32CA265059 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract); T31IR1910 (Other Grant/Funding Number: Tobacco Related Diseases Research Program)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No