The prevalence of e-cigarette use among adolescents and young adults has increased in recent years, highlighting the importance of understanding psychological factors associated with vaping behaviour. The present study examines BAS Reward Responsiveness was associated with vaping frequency among adolescents and young adults, and whether this association was moderated by perceived distress and perceived coping.

Data were collected through a cross-sectional survey among Dutch adolescents and young adults aged 12 to 25 years. Analyses were restricted to current vapers who had used e-cigarettes at least once during the past 30 days. The final analytical sample consisted of 81 participants. Two moderation analyses were conducted using PROCESS Model 1, controlling for age, gender, and educational level.

Contrary to expectations, BAS Reward Responsiveness was not significantly associated with vaping frequency. In addition, neither perceived distress nor perceived coping significantly moderated the association between Reward Responsiveness and vaping frequency. However, perceived distress was positively associated with vaping frequency, suggesting that adolescents and young adults reporting higher levels of distress tended to vape more frequently. Perceived coping was also positively associated with vaping frequency in the regression model, although this finding was exploratory and should be interpreted with caution.

Overall, the findings suggest that stress-related factors may be relevant for understanding vaping frequency among adolescents and young adult current vapers. Furthermore, the results highlight the importance of examining perceived distress and perceived coping as separate constructs when studying stress-related processes in vaping behaviour.