{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,20]],"date-time":"2026-06-20T01:43:40Z","timestamp":1781919820266,"version":"3.54.5"},"reference-count":42,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,15]],"date-time":"2025-10-15T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1760486400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Public Health"],"abstract":"<jats:sec><jats:title>Aim<\/jats:title><jats:p>To examine the association between the social unacceptability of vaping and the main correlate, country of residence, as well as other sociodemographic variables in three Middle Eastern countries.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title><jats:p>A cross-sectional online survey study of a convenience sample of regular vapers in Middle Eastern countries was recruited. Recruitment took place through paid advertisements on social media, regular e-cigarette users, completed an online survey. Vapers responded to socio-demographic and social unacceptability questions. Ordinal logistic regression was used for analysis.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results<\/jats:title><jats:p><jats:italic>N<\/jats:italic><jats:bold>=<\/jats:bold> 428 vapers completed the survey. Male vapers and vapers who currently smoke had lower odds for social unacceptability perceptions relative to females and never smoker counterparts. Vapers in Qatar, experiencing pressure to vape from friends, encountering negative effects, and mod and e-cigarette use was associated with higher odds of social unacceptability perceptions relative to vapers in Egypt, not experiencing pressure from friends, not encountering negative effects, and pod use, respectively.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title><jats:p>Relative to vapers in Egypt, those in Qatar reported higher social unacceptability levels, likely due to restrictive legislations, and calls for similar restrictions in Egypt. More awareness is needed to increase social unacceptability among vapers who are males and current smokers. Highlighting potential negative effects from vaping in education campaigns and regulatory restrictions on pod design (compact, sleek, and concealable features) may help increase the social unacceptability of vaping.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpubh.2025.1620863","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,15]],"date-time":"2025-10-15T05:42:25Z","timestamp":1760506945000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Correlates of perceived social unacceptability of vaping among regular e-cigarette users: a cross-sectional study of a sample of Middle Eastern countries"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"13","author":[{"given":"Hissa Mohamed","family":"AlMuraikhi","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Fatima Al Zahraa","family":"Chokor","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mohammed","family":"Al-Hamdani","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,15]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"295","DOI":"10.1007\/s13181-020-00772-w","article-title":"Review of health consequences of electronic cigarettes and the outbreak of electronic cigarette, or vaping, product use-associated lung injury","volume":"16","author":"Cao","year":"2020","journal-title":"J Med Toxicol"},{"key":"ref2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"100208","DOI":"10.1016\/j.eclinm.2019.10.019","article-title":"Vaping: a growing global health concern","volume":"17","author":"Besaratinia","year":"2019","journal-title":"EClinicalMedicine"},{"key":"ref3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"682355","DOI":"10.3389\/fpubh.2021.682355","article-title":"Prevalence, risk factors, harm perception, and attitudes toward e-cigarette use among university students in Qatar: a cross-sectional study","volume":"9","author":"Kurdi","year":"2021","journal-title":"Front Public Health"},{"key":"ref4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.18332\/tid\/168435","article-title":"Public awareness, prevalence, and regulations for the sale of electronic cigarettes in Arab countries: a narrative review","volume":"21","author":"Jirjees","year":"2023","journal-title":"Tob Induc Dis"},{"key":"ref5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"56","DOI":"10.4103\/atm.ATM_76_18","article-title":"Electronic cigarette among health science students in Saudi Arabia","volume":"14","author":"Qanash","year":"2019","journal-title":"Ann Thorac Med"},{"key":"ref6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e0302946","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0302946","article-title":"E-cigarette use among university students in Palestine: prevalence, knowledge, and determinant factors","volume":"19","author":"Ghanim","year":"2024","journal-title":"PLoS One"},{"key":"ref7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"101363","DOI":"10.1016\/j.pmedr.2021.101363","article-title":"Smoking cessation or initiation: the paradox of vaping","volume":"22","author":"Al-Hamdani","year":"2021","journal-title":"Prev Med Rep"},{"key":"ref8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"201","DOI":"10.5152\/TurkThoracJ.2019.180203","article-title":"Health hazards and complications associated with electronic cigarettes: a review","volume":"21","author":"G\u00fcl\u015fen","year":"2020","journal-title":"Turk Thorac J"},{"key":"ref9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"97","DOI":"10.1111\/add.14648","article-title":"Differences in norms towards the use of nicotine vaping products among adult smokers, former smokers and nicotine vaping product users: cross-sectional findings from the 2016 ITC four country smoking and vaping survey","volume":"114","author":"Aleyan","year":"2019","journal-title":"Addiction"},{"key":"ref10","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"505","DOI":"10.1093\/ntr\/ntac212","article-title":"Do social norms for cigarette smoking and nicotine vaping product use predict trying nicotine vaping products and attempts to quit cigarette smoking amongst adult smokers? 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