Researchers from the Swedish Cancer Institute in Seattle—as well as from UW-CTRI and Texas A&M—recently published a paper in the Journal of American College Health on how college fraternity members’ social networks relate to vaping.
Researchers studied 212 male participants and their “ego networks,” defined as a representation of the social relationships between each individual (ego) with their social peers (alters). This ego network tends to play a crucial role in determining human social behavior.
Researchers examined how these ego networks affected vaping. While 73 percent of these participants had vaped at least once, 41 percent were current users.
Participants provided details about their vaping and nominated up to five alters for each network type, describing the nature and frequency of these key relationships.
Researchers found that perceived positive reactions from important friends more accurately predicted participants’ vaping than the actual vaping by these important friends. Additionally, participants rated caregivers (physicians and pharmacists) as trusted sources of health information, but not family and friends.

“The study provides insights into how social networks, particularly the perceived positive reactions from important relationships, influence vaping among college students in fraternities,” said paper co-author and UW-CTRI Director Dr. Hasmeena Kathuria. “Strategies that focus on changing social norms and perceptions within these networks could be tested to assess whether they help more students avoid vaping.”
Kathuria said she was surprised that, while more than half of participants searched online for info about vaping and nearly all for health effects, 73 percent had tried vapes and nearly half vaped every day.
“Of course, we don’t know the reliability of these online sources,” Kathuria said, “but it seems like we can do better about messaging on the health effects of vaping among young people.”
For more information on vaping, visit UW-CTRI’s vaping site.
Welch A, Patterson MS, Whilshire C, Kathuria H, Gilbert C, Gorden J. Ego Networks Associated With E-Cigarette Use Among College Fraternity Students: A Cross-Sectional Study. Journal of American College Health. Online January 2, 2025.