Understanding how young people conceptualize their own addiction matters enormously for designing effective cessation programs. If a 21-year-old vaper frames their dependence as a manageable habit rather than a compulsive disorder, standard nicotine-addiction messaging may never land — and that perception gap has real public health consequences as vaping rates among this cohort continue to climb.
Drawing on 20 online focus groups conducted in February 2023 as part of the Generation Vape study, researchers engaged 114 Australian young adults averaging 21 years of age, of whom nearly 79% reported current or prior vaping. Thematic analysis using the Framework Method revealed three interlocking domains: factors enabling regular vaping, subjective interpretations of addiction, and cessation-related behaviors. A particularly notable finding was participants' internal taxonomy of addiction — distinguishing between habitual dependence (vaping woven into daily routine) and compulsive dependence (experienced as an overwhelming, uncontrollable urge). Critically, these categories carried different social acceptability, with habitual use perceived as relatively benign. Those who acknowledged dependence framed it as unintentional, and described cessation barriers including nicotine withdrawal and pervasive social pressure from peer vaping environments.
This work adds qualitative texture to an area dominated by survey-based prevalence data. The habitual-versus-compulsive distinction participants drew is not clinically arbitrary — it parallels debates in addiction science about whether nicotine dependence maps more closely onto substance use disorder or behavioral compulsion. However, the sample is self-selected and regionally bounded, limiting generalizability beyond Australia's regulatory context, where nicotine vapes require a prescription. The findings suggest cessation support framed around identity and routine disruption — not just pharmacological withdrawal management — may be more resonant for young adults who do not perceive themselves as classically addicted. This is a useful, incremental contribution, though causal or longitudinal claims cannot be drawn from qualitative focus group data alone.
