Abstract. Both consuming alcohol and using social networking sites (SNS) are popular pastimes among adolescents. The current cross-sectional study (N = 3,133) aims to explore the relation between being exposed to and displaying alcohol-related content on SNS with alcohol abuse among adolescents aged 16–20 years. First, the results support that displaying alcohol-related content on SNS is more strongly associated with alcohol abuse than exposure to this kind of content. Furthermore, the associations of both exposure to and displaying alcohol-related content on SNS with alcohol abuse are mediated through perceived social norms of friends and attitudes toward excessive alcohol consumption. Yet, whereas alcohol-related attitudes and social norms seemed to be equally important mediators in the relation between exposure to alcohol-related content on SNS and alcohol abuse, the association between displaying alcohol-related content on SNS and alcohol abuse seemed to be mediated predominantly through a change in alcohol-related attitudes. Overall, this study sheds more light on the complex relations between SNS use and risky drinking behavior among adolescents.
Accumulating evidence indicates that social media use and the consumption of alcohol are related. The present longitudinal study (N=1006) adds to this line of research by examining the reciprocity of sharing alcohol references on social media and binge drinking among late adolescents (age 16-20 at baseline). The results indicate that binge drinking and alcohol-related self-presentation affect each other simultaneously over time. However, no support was found for the proposition that the perceived feedback of peers can strengthen this relationship, nor did we find a direct association between the perceived feedback of peers and alcohol-related self-presentation one year later. Overall, the results suggest that binge drinking and alcoholrelated self-presentation on social media should be studied as tied behaviors, affecting each other simultaneously over time.
Objective:The current study is one of the first to examine how self-reported alcohol consumption, friends' perceived alcohol consumption and the perceived number of friends sharing alcohol references on social networking sites (SNS) is associated with adolescents' sharing of alcohol references on SNS. Method: A cross-sectional paper-and-pencil survey was administered among 3172 adolescents (Mage=17.16, SD=.93; 50% girls). Structural equation modeling was used to test the hypotheses. Results: First, the results indicated that both selfreported drinking behavior and the perceived number of friends sharing alcohol references, were related to sharing alcohol references on SNS, but the perceived number of friends sharing alcohol references was a stronger predictor than self-reported drinking behavior. Friends' perceived drinking behavior was not a significant predictor. In the second place, self-reported drinking behavior was a stronger predictor for girls than for boys, whereas the perceived number of friends sharing alcohol references was a stronger predictor for boys than for girls.
Conclusion:Adolescents' alcohol-related self-representation is in line with their alcohol consumption, and is also strongly related to what their friends are sharing. Thus, adolescents appear to communicate authentically about their drinking experiences, but the decision to do so is heavily influenced by the prevailing social norm regarding alcohol-related communication.
The present longitudinal study (N=596, Mage at baseline=16.96, SD=.78) combines an interdependent social media effects approach with Slater's reinforcing spirals model. As such, it is the first study to test a triple spiral between self-sharing of and exposure to alcohol-related content on social media, self-sharing and drinking behavior, and exposure and drinking behavior. We thereby differentiate between within-level and between-level relationships using a random intercepts cross-lagged panel model (RI-CLPM). The results indicate that there is a positive significant relationship between sharing, exposure, and consumption at the betweenperson level: Across waves, individuals who reported higher alcohol consumption also reported more frequent self-sharing, and those who reported more frequent self-sharing also reported more frequent exposure. Within-person change in self-sharing, exposure, and consumption are associated cross-sectionally, but these relationships do not endure over time. These results demonstrate that alcohol-related communication on social media effects may reflect a subgroup of heavy drinking adolescents who also share about their drinking behavior.
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