Characteristics of Adults’ Use of Facebook and the Potential Impact on Health Behavior: Secondary Data Analysis

Abstract

BackgroundSocial influences are a primary factor in the adoption of health behaviors. Social media platforms, such as Facebook, disseminate information, raise awareness, and provide motivation and support for positive health behaviors. Facebook has evolved rapidly and is now a part of many individuals' daily routine. The high degree of individual engagement and low attrition rate of this platform necessitate consideration for a potentially positive impact on health behavior.ObjectiveThe aim of this paper is to investigate the use of Facebook by adults. Knowledge is limited to the unique characteristics of Facebook users, including time spent on Facebook by adults of various age groups. Characteristics of Facebook users are important to understand to direct efforts to engage adults in future health behavior interventions.MethodsInstitutional Review Board approval was obtained for this secondary analysis of existing de-identified survey data collected for the Pew Research Center. The sample included adults age 18-65 years and above. Binomial logistic regression was performed for the model of age group and Facebook use, controlling for other demographics. A multinomial logistic regression model was used for the variable of time spent on Facebook. Based on the regression models, we computed and reported the marginal effects on Facebook use and time spent of adults age groups, including age groups 18-29, 30-49, 50-64, and 65 and over. We discuss these findings in the context of the implications for promoting positive health behaviors.ResultsThe demographics of the final sample (N=730) included adults age 18-65 years and above (mean 48.2 yrs, SD 18.3 yrs). The majority of the participants were female (372/730, 50.9%), white (591/730, 80.9%) and non-Hispanic (671/730, 91.9%). Bivariate analysis indicated that Facebook users and nonusers differed significantly by age group (χ2=76.71, P<.001) and sex (χ2=9.04, P=.003). Among subjects aged 50 and above, the predicted probability was 66% for spending the same amount of time, 10% with increased time, and 24% with decreased time.ConclusionsThe key findings of this study were Facebook use among midlife and older adults was more likely to stay the same over time, compared to the other age groups. Interestingly, the young adult age group 18-29 years was more likely to decrease their time on Facebook over time. Specifically, younger females were most likely to decrease time spent on Facebook. In general, male participants were most likely to spend the same amount of time on Facebook. These findings have implications for future health intervention research, and ultimately, for translation to the clinic setting to improve health outcomes.

The Italian version of the Thinking About Life Experiences Questionnaire and its relationship with gender, age, and life events on Facebook

“…We expect to found a definite influence of demographic variables such as gender and age in the association between functions of AMs and Facebook usage (Hypothesis 2). Moreover, we have also the following expectations: People using their AMs for self‐continuity purposes will be more active on Facebook in sharing information about their life events then people moved by social‐bonding or directive‐behavior function of AMs, coherent with prior works (i.e., Seyfi & Soydaş, ; Caci et al, ; Hypothesis 3). The relationship among all the three functions of AMs and the amount of textual or visual information about life events would be stronger for women than for men, consistent with literature (e.g., Vranic et al, 2018; Mendelson & Papacharissi, ; Hypothesis 4). The relationship among all the three functions of AMs and the amount of textual or visual information about life events would be stronger for middle‐aged than young adult people, considering that nowadays middle‐aged people are more involved then young in using Facebook (Bosak & Park, ; Hypothesis 5). The relationship among all the three functions of AMs and life events with positive themes would be stronger for middle‐aged than for young adult women (Hypothesis 6). …”

“…• The relationship among all the three functions of AMs and the amount of textual or visual information about life events would be stronger for middle-aged than young adult people, considering that nowadays middle-aged people are more involved then young in using Facebook (Bosak & Park, 2018; Hypothesis 5).…”

Exploring the role of social support and social media for lifestyle interventions to prevent weight gain with young adults: Focus group findings

“…Social support from family and peers is one key component of health behaviour change including weight management 8–12 . In the past decade, researchers have attempted to harness social networking sites for healthy lifestyle interventions both as the sole means of intervention delivery 13 or to provide additional social support to participants via coach and peers 14–19 …”

“…7 Social support from family and peers is one key component of health behaviour change including weight management. [8][9][10][11][12] In the past decade, researchers have attempted to harness social networking sites for healthy lifestyle interventions both as the sole means of intervention delivery 13 or to provide additional social support to participants via coach and peers. [14][15][16][17][18][19] A recent review of social media use in behaviour change interventions found that functions for peer grouping improved perceptions of social support and social support coping.…”

High adherence and low dropout rate in a virtual clinical study of atopic dermatitis through weekly reward-based personalized genetic lifestyle reports

“…Among other things, the skewed distribution is probably due to the fact that the advertisement targeted subjects searching for or "liking" skin products. Even though studies have shown that the age of adults using Facebook is 18-65 years (mean 48.2 years) [27], future studies using online recruitment should be aware of this and consider advertising through other channels than via social media. For example, using websites of patient associations or pharmacies to target the elderly, to reduce bias in recruitment.…”