Representações sociais acerca do uso do cigarro convencional e do cigarro eletrônico: uma análise comparativa

• Ano de defesa: 2022
• Autor(a) principal: Rocha, Anne Karoline Pinto
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Tipo de acesso: Acesso aberto
• Idioma: por
• Instituição de defesa: Universidade Federal da Paraíba; Brasil; Psicologia Social; Programa de Pós-Graduação em Psicologia Social; UFPB
• Palavras-chave em Português: Psicologia social - Tabagismo; Cigarro convencional; Cigarro eletrônico; Representações sociais; Social Psychology - Smoking; Conventional cigarettes; Electronic cigarette; Social representations; CNPQ::CIENCIAS HUMANAS::PSICOLOGIA
• Link de acesso: https://repositorio.ufpb.br/jspui/handle/123456789/28166

Similar to conventional cigarettes, electronic cigarettes are a device that releases nicotine and has been used as an auxiliary tool for smoking cessation, although scientific data on its efficacy are scarce. In this dissertation, literature review and empirical studies were conducted. In the first study, whose objective was to conduct a literature review on the use of electronic cigarettes as a tool for smoking reduction or cessation, searches were conducted at the Scopus, Scielo and PubMed databases until June 2020, and included only empirical studies dealing with the use of electronic cigarettes for smoking reduction or cessation . As for the results of the review, a great acceptance of the lay population was identified, which sees electronic cigarettes as harmless and reinforces the idea of a new social identity for vapers (e-cigarette users); while health professionals highlight the importance of information based on scientific evidence consistent with the device; to the extent that studies on the efficacy of electronic cigarettes and their long-term safety remain inconclusive. For empirical research, studies were conducted with mixed method, collection and analysis of quantitative-qualitative data. In the second study, conducted to access and compare the social representations of electronic and conventional cigarettes, which included 119 participants from the general population, a sociodemographic questionnaire and the technique of free association of words (with the stimuli "Electronic Cigarette" and "Conventional Cigarette" were used as instruments. In the results of the study, it was noticed that the representations about electronic cigarettes are mostly related to an idea of modernity and youth, relating it to recreational use; while representations about conventional cigarettes are more consistently related to a negative image, unpleasant factors and even the consequent health harms. In the third study, conducted with the objective of investigating the positioning of participants in the face of electronic cigarettes and performing a screening of their mental health, which had 154 participants from the general population, the instruments used were the sociodemographic questionnaire, open questions about electronic and conventional cigarettes, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale and the Life Satisfaction Scale; the data were analyzed with spss software. Regarding the results of the study, no significant differences were found between the participants who were smokers and nonsmokers; most participants believe that conventional cigarettes are more harmful than electronic cigarettes; 41.2% of the participants who used e-cigarettes did not have their own device; most participants believe that electronic cigarettes can be used for smoking cessation, although this was not the reason for the beginning of use for 49% of the participants; most users of ecigarettes only do not consider themselves "smokers"; most participants believe that the use of electronic and conventional cigarettes is used to calm the nerves and that the use of electronic cigarettes occurs for reasons such as: having an environment is conducive, for group integration, having a technological appearance, odor that does not bother or because they believe they are harmless devices. In addition, the representation of most participants recognized the harms related to electronic cigarettes and their composition different from conventional cigarettes, but is unaware that their commercialization is prohibited in Brazil. In general, it was possible to detect the need for longitudinal studies, studies capable of presenting real evidence, in order to clarify doubts and gaps regarding the impacts of the use of electronic cigarettes on people's health and on the efficacy or not of electronic cigarettes for smoking reduction or cessation. It was possible to make some reflections on the role of electronic cigarette for society and how people have introjected the information accessed and shared about the device. Finally, the need for further studies to support the necessary and appropriate regulatory regulations is emphasized, in addition to updating and improving new strategies for prevention and health promotion aligned with control over issues related to electronic cigarettes.