Background: Information on e-cigarettes among youth in the Russian Federation is lacking. Objective:
We examined prevalence of and factors associated with youth e-cigarette use in the Russian Federation.Methods:
A cross-sectional, anonymous survey, conducted among 716 (females 51.5%) high school
students in three cities (i.e., Ufa, Sterlitamak, Karagaevo) within the Republic of Bashkortostan, Russian
Federation in 2015, assessed e-cigarette use and its correlates (i.e., sex, age, ethnicity, family structure,
parents’highest degrees, antisocial behaviors, stress coping strategies, lifetime cigarette, hookah, alcohol,
and marijuana use). Results: Lifetime use of e-cigarettes was 28.6% and past-30-day use was 2.2%.
Multilevel modeling showed that belonging to Tatar/Bashkir ethnicity relative to Russian ethnicity (OR
= 1.60) and lifetime use of cigarettes (OR = 21.64), hookah (OR = 4.21), and alcohol (OR = 1.90) was
associated with greater odds of lifetime use of e-cigarettes. Furthermore, use of social support coping
strategies (i.e., utilizing parents for support) were associated with lower odds of lifetime use of
e-cigarettes (OR = 0.94). Conclusions: Despite high lifetime e-cigarette use, past-30-day use was low.
Greater knowledge of the reasons for e-cigarette discontinuation through continued surveillance is
needed in the Russian Federation. Social coping strategies involving parents may inform e-cigarette
use prevention.