Associations Between Displayed Alcohol References on Facebook and Problem Drinking Among College Students

Abstract

The study included undergraduate students (age range, 18-20 years) at 2 state universities with public Facebook profiles. Main Exposures:The profiles were categorized into 1 of 3 distinct categories: Nondisplayers, Alcohol Displayers, and I/PD Displayers.Outcome Measures: An online survey measured problem drinking using the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) scale. Analyses examined associations between alcohol display category and (1) AUDIT problem drinking category using logistic regression, (2) AUDIT score using negative binomial regression, and (3) alcohol-related injury using the Fisher exact test.Results: Among 307 profiles identified, 224 participants completed the survey (73% response rate). The average age was 18.8 years; 122 (54%) were female; 152 (68%) were white; and approximately 50% were from each university. Profile owners who displayed I/PD were more likely (odds ratio, 4.4; 95% CI, 2.0-9.4) to score in the problem drinking category of the AUDIT scale, had 64.0% (incidence rate ratio, 1.64; 95% CI, 1.27-11.0) higher AUDIT scores overall, and were more likely to report an alcohol-related injury in the past year (P=.002).Conclusions: Displayed references to I/PD were positively associated with AUDIT scores suggesting problem drinking as well as alcohol-related injury. Results suggest that clinical criteria for problem drinking can be applied to Facebook alcohol references.

Emerging adults’ use of alcohol and social networking sites during a large street festival: A real-time interview study

“…In this study, heavy episodic drinkers, known from previous work to be at elevated risk of alcohol-related motor vehicle crashes, used Facebook during the drinking episode at higher rates than non-heavy episodic drinkers and used Twitter at lower rates. This is consistent with previous studies which showed positive associations between displaying alcohol references on Facebook and self-reported problematic alcohol use [ 16 ]. This study extends those findings to illustrate that in some cases, the displayed alcohol references are happening in real-time during a drinking experience.…”

Emerging adults’ use of alcohol and social networking sites during a large street festival: A real-time interview study

“…In this study, heavy episodic drinkers, known from previous work to be at elevated risk of alcohol-related motor vehicle crashes, used Facebook during the drinking episode at higher rates than non-heavy episodic drinkers and used Twitter at lower rates. This is consistent with previous studies which showed positive associations between displaying alcohol references on Facebook and self-reported problematic alcohol use [ 16 ]. This study extends those findings to illustrate that in some cases, the displayed alcohol references are happening in real-time during a drinking experience.…”

A Prospective Longitudinal Cohort Study of College Students' Alcohol and Abstinence Displays on Social Media

“…This previous study suggests that it is the quality of displayed alcohol references via the selected words to describe alcohol use, and not the quantity of alcohol references, which differs by gender. Beyond gender, study findings support differences in likelihood of alcohol displays by number of friends and number of posts, which is consistent with previous work [15,35]. We also found differences in frequency of GAU displays by campus, but not for I/PD displays.…”

The increased trend of non-drinking alcohol among adolescents: what role do internet activities have?

“…Third, the time spent on social media/chatting was robustly associated with decreased odds of non-drinking across the three survey years, with a stronger association among girls than boys. This finding is in line with others suggesting that this association probably is driven by displayed alcohol references on these sites, 9 , 10 and online alcohol marketing 24 , 25 . Thus, online chatting/social media platforms may constitute a forum where adolescents are exposed for positive alcohol preferences from peers and alcohol marketing without parental scrutiny, which possible reinforces peer communication at the expense of communication with parents, 26 and weaken the protective effect of parental monitoring 27 .…”

Emerging adults’ use of alcohol and social networking sites during a large street festival: A real-time interview study

“…In this study, heavy episodic drinkers, known from previous work to be at elevated risk of alcohol-related motor vehicle crashes, used Facebook during the drinking episode at higher rates than non-heavy episodic drinkers and used Twitter at lower rates. This is consistent with previous studies which showed positive associations between displaying alcohol references on Facebook and self-reported problematic alcohol use [ 16 ]. This study extends those findings to illustrate that in some cases, the displayed alcohol references are happening in real-time during a drinking experience.…”

A Prospective Longitudinal Cohort Study of College Students' Alcohol and Abstinence Displays on Social Media

“…This previous study suggests that it is the quality of displayed alcohol references via the selected words to describe alcohol use, and not the quantity of alcohol references, which differs by gender. Beyond gender, study findings support differences in likelihood of alcohol displays by number of friends and number of posts, which is consistent with previous work [15,35]. We also found differences in frequency of GAU displays by campus, but not for I/PD displays.…”

The increased trend of non-drinking alcohol among adolescents: what role do internet activities have?

“…Third, the time spent on social media/chatting was robustly associated with decreased odds of non-drinking across the three survey years, with a stronger association among girls than boys. This finding is in line with others suggesting that this association probably is driven by displayed alcohol references on these sites, 9 , 10 and online alcohol marketing 24 , 25 . Thus, online chatting/social media platforms may constitute a forum where adolescents are exposed for positive alcohol preferences from peers and alcohol marketing without parental scrutiny, which possible reinforces peer communication at the expense of communication with parents, 26 and weaken the protective effect of parental monitoring 27 .…”

Emerging adults’ use of alcohol and social networking sites during a large street festival: A real-time interview study

“…In this study, heavy episodic drinkers, known from previous work to be at elevated risk of alcohol-related motor vehicle crashes, used Facebook during the drinking episode at higher rates than non-heavy episodic drinkers and used Twitter at lower rates. This is consistent with previous studies which showed positive associations between displaying alcohol references on Facebook and self-reported problematic alcohol use [ 16 ]. This study extends those findings to illustrate that in some cases, the displayed alcohol references are happening in real-time during a drinking experience.…”

A Prospective Longitudinal Cohort Study of College Students' Alcohol and Abstinence Displays on Social Media

“…This previous study suggests that it is the quality of displayed alcohol references via the selected words to describe alcohol use, and not the quantity of alcohol references, which differs by gender. Beyond gender, study findings support differences in likelihood of alcohol displays by number of friends and number of posts, which is consistent with previous work [15,35]. We also found differences in frequency of GAU displays by campus, but not for I/PD displays.…”

The increased trend of non-drinking alcohol among adolescents: what role do internet activities have?

“…Third, the time spent on social media/chatting was robustly associated with decreased odds of non-drinking across the three survey years, with a stronger association among girls than boys. This finding is in line with others suggesting that this association probably is driven by displayed alcohol references on these sites, 9 , 10 and online alcohol marketing 24 , 25 . Thus, online chatting/social media platforms may constitute a forum where adolescents are exposed for positive alcohol preferences from peers and alcohol marketing without parental scrutiny, which possible reinforces peer communication at the expense of communication with parents, 26 and weaken the protective effect of parental monitoring 27 .…”