‘UNCLOUD’ young lives: development and evaluation of a national peer-to-peer anti-vaping campaign for young people in Australia
4 affiliations
- 1School of Clinical Medicine, Randwick Clinical Campus, Discipline of Paediatrics, UNSW Medicine & Health, UNSW Sydney, Sydney, Australia
- 2Division of Quality of Life and Pediatric Palliative Care, Department of Pediatrics, Stanford University and Stanford Medicine Children’s Health, Stanford, USA
- 3Minderoo Foundation, Perth, Australia
- 4Hall and Partners, Sydney, Australia
Abstract
Background: Youth vaping is increasing in Australia and internationally, highlighting the need for effective prevention and cessation strategies. Large-scale public health campaigns targeting vaping remain relatively uncommon, particularly those incorporating youth-informed design and rigorous evaluation. This project aimed to develop and evaluate a national, peer-to-peer anti-vaping campaign (UNCLOUD) using a multi-stage research approach.
Methods: We conducted three sequential studies with young people aged 14–25 years in Australia (2022–2024). In Study 1, we used a cross-sectional national survey (n = 2,204) to assess vaping behaviors, attitudes, and perceived social norms. In Study 2, we conducted a qualitative study (n = 135) using interviews and group discussions to explore responses to anti-vaping messaging and inform campaign development. In Study 3, we implemented a repeated cross-sectional evaluation (n = 3,000) to assess campaign awareness, media performance, and self-reported attitudinal and behavioral outcomes. We compared participants who were aware versus unaware of the campaign using weighted analyses.
Results: In Study 1, 29% of participants reported vaping in the past 30 days, while 77% perceived vaping as common among peers. In Study 2, participants identified messaging that focused on relatable, short-term harms and authentic peer-to-peer communication as most effective. The UNCLOUD campaign reached over 136 million individuals and generated over 9 million content views in the first 3 months post-launch. In Study 3, young people who vaped and recalled the campaign reported a greater desire to quit vaping (p = 0.001) and greater avoidance of vaping around others (p = 0.007) than those who were unaware of the campaign. Among young people who did not vape, 74% reported increased confidence to refuse vaping. Overall, 66% of participants reported taking at least one action after exposure to the campaign, such as discussing vaping with others or seeking additional information about vaping.
Conclusions: A multi-stage, youth-informed approach enabled us to develop a national anti-vaping campaign with substantial reach and engagement. Exposure to the campaign was associated with favorable self-reported attitudes and behaviors related to vaping. These findings support the potential value of theory-informed, peer-to-peer public health campaigns targeting youth vaping, although findings should be interpreted in light of the study design.
Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-026-28534-3.
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BibTeX
@article{wakefield2026uncloud,
title = {{‘UNCLOUD’ young lives: development and evaluation of a national peer-to-peer anti-vaping campaign for young people in Australia}},
author = {Claire E. Wakefield and Jordana K. McLoone and Nicole Lawrence and Tess Howard and Zoe Brown and Janelle Fandialan and Melan Hegermann and Melissa Gill},
journal = {BMC Public Health},
year = {2026},
month = jul,
doi = {10.1186/s12889-026-28534-3},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-026-28534-3},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - ‘UNCLOUD’ young lives: development and evaluation of a national peer-to-peer anti-vaping campaign for young people in Australia
AU - Claire E. Wakefield
AU - Jordana K. McLoone
AU - Nicole Lawrence
AU - Tess Howard
AU - Zoe Brown
AU - Janelle Fandialan
AU - Melan Hegermann
AU - Melissa Gill
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/07/22
JO - BMC Public Health
DO - 10.1186/s12889-026-28534-3
UR - https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-026-28534-3
AB - Background: Youth vaping is increasing in Australia and internationally, highlighting the need for effective prevention and cessation strategies. Large-scale public health campaigns targeting vaping remain relatively uncommon, particularly those incorporating youth-informed design and rigorous evaluation. This project aimed to develop and evaluate a national, peer-to-peer anti-vaping campaign (UNCLOUD) using a multi-stage research approach. Methods: We conducted three sequential studies with young people aged 14–25 years in Australia (2022–2024). In Study 1, we used a cross-sectional national survey (n = 2,204) to assess vaping behaviors, attitudes, and perceived social norms. In Study 2, we conducted a qualitative study (n = 135) using interviews and group discussions to explore responses to anti-vaping messaging and inform campaign development. In Study 3, we implemented a repeated cross-sectional evaluation (n = 3,000) to assess campaign awareness, media performance, and self-reported attitudinal and behavioral outcomes. We compared participants who were aware versus unaware of the campaign using weighted analyses. Results: In Study 1, 29% of participants reported vaping in the past 30 days, while 77% perceived vaping as common among peers. In Study 2, participants identified messaging that focused on relatable, short-term harms and authentic peer-to-peer communication as most effective. The UNCLOUD campaign reached over 136 million individuals and generated over 9 million content views in the first 3 months post-launch. In Study 3, young people who vaped and recalled the campaign reported a greater desire to quit vaping (p = 0.001) and greater avoidance of vaping around others (p = 0.007) than those who were unaware of the campaign. Among young people who did not vape, 74% reported increased confidence to refuse vaping. Overall, 66% of participants reported taking at least one action after exposure to the campaign, such as discussing vaping with others or seeking additional information about vaping. Conclusions: A multi-stage, youth-informed approach enabled us to develop a national anti-vaping campaign with substantial reach and engagement. Exposure to the campaign was associated with favorable self-reported attitudes and behaviors related to vaping. These findings support the potential value of theory-informed, peer-to-peer public health campaigns targeting youth vaping, although findings should be interpreted in light of the study design. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-026-28534-3.
SN - 1471-2458
ER -