Short communicationThe use of social networking sites: A risk factor for using alcohol, marijuana, and synthetic cannabinoids?
Introduction
The use of social networking sites (SNS) has increased dramatically with young adults, ages 18–29, representing the largest group of internet users (Pew Research Center, 2014). Notably, in a recent study, 89% of young adults reported using SNS (Duggan and Brenner, 2013). The ubiquity of SNS has allowed young adults another outlet by which to explore and assert their identities and a commonly portrayed identity on SNS includes an “alcohol identity” (i.e., being a “drinker”). Such alcohol identities may contribute to one’s risk of using alcohol. Indeed, research suggests that spending time on SNS increases alcohol consumption in college students via increases in the degree to which individuals self-identify as alcohol users (Ridout et al., 2012). Specifically, past research has demonstrated that an alcohol identity, as measured by alcohol content present in Facebook profiles, has been shown to be significantly associated with the average amount of alcohol consumed as well as binge drinking sessions in the past year (Ridout et al., 2012).
An experimental study conducted by Litt and Stock (2011) randomly assigned adolescents to one of two Facebook conditions: an alcohol user condition and a control condition. In both conditions, participants viewed 4 profiles (fabricated by the researcher) of older adolescents and were asked to rate them on various personality traits. In the alcohol user condition, participants primarily viewed profiles that depicted images of alcohol use and included “postings” from friends commenting on their alcohol use (also fabricated). In the control condition, participants primarily viewed profiles that did not depict alcohol use/include “postings” from friends commenting on alcohol use. Notably, adolescents in the alcohol user condition reported more favorable attitudes toward alcohol use, greater willingness to drink, and reduced perceptions of experiencing negative consequences of drinking when compared to adolescents in the control condition (Litt and Stock, 2011).
Another study found that self-reported estimates of online pictures depicting one’s own alcohol use and estimates of friends’ postings commenting on alcohol use were significantly associated with past 30-day alcohol use (Stoddard et al., 2012). However, these latter studies did not examine the relationship between time spent on SNS and drug use outcomes. Such information may be important as past research has found an association between “problematic” internet use and use of drugs including marijuana (Liu et al., 2011).
The current study extends past research by investigating associations between alcohol, marijuana, synthetic marijuana use, and hours spent on SNS. Such an investigation is important because: (a) marijuana use is the most widely abused illicit substance among youth (SAMHSA, 2014), (b) synthetic marijuana use has increased dramatically in recent years (Johnston et al., 2013), and (c) young adults are more likely to devote more time using SNS relative to their older counterparts (Duggan and Brenner, 2013). The aims of the present study were twofold: to characterize use of SNS among college students and to investigate associations between SNS use and drug use outcomes in college students. We hypothesized that hours spent on SNS would be associated with the frequency of using alcohol, marijuana, and synthetic cannabinoids in the past month.
Section snippets
Participants
Six hundred ninety nine undergraduates (62.4% female; mean age = 21.0; SD = 8.56) were recruited from a University on the U.S./Mexico border for an online study. Eighty nine percent of the sample identified as Hispanic. The remaining proportion of the sample identified as White (14.3%), African American (4.3%), Asian American (1.3%), American Indian (1.35%), and the remaining participants identified as “other” category (1.6%). Participants could categorize themselves as belonging to more than one
Results
Demographic information is presented in Table 1.The average time participants spent on SNS in the past month was 46.23 h (SD = 77.26).
Seventy-one percent, 14%, and 3% of the sample reported past month use of alcohol, marijuana, and synthetic marijuana. Males reported a significantly greater frequency of using alcohol (8.14 times per month vs. 4.39 times per month, p = 0.001) and marijuana (2.14 times per month vs. 0.54 times per month, p = 0.001) when compared to females. No significant differences in
Discussion
The present study found an association between time spent on SNS and frequency of alcohol and synthetic marijuana use. Although this study was cross-sectional in nature, and thus causality cannot be assumed, the results are consistent with past research examining SNS and alcohol use (Ridout et al., 2012, Stoddard et al., 2012). The present study adds to a growing body of research examining the association between the utilization of SNS and drug use outcomes and builds on past research by
Role of funding sources
Funding for this study was provided by A Smoke Free Paso del Norte (grant number 26-8113-63) Vulnerability Issues in Drug Abuse (grant number 5R24DA029989-03), and PHSGRANT NUMBER 5 T32 DA 19426-10. Grant agencies had no role in the study design, collection, analysis or interpretation of the data, writing the manuscript, or the decision to submit the paper for publication.
Contributors
Kevin M. Gutierrez and Theodore V. Cooper designed the study and wrote the protocol. Kevin M. Gutierrez conducted literature searches, conducted statistical analysis, and wrote the initial draft of the manuscript. Theodore V. Cooper provided conceptual guidance and assisted in revising the manuscript.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest.
Acknowledgements
The authors wish to thank members of A Smoke Free Paso del Norte and members of the VIDA Project including Dr. Eddie Castañeda. Kevin M. Gutierrez would like to the Consultation Center community including Dr. Jacob Tebes at Yale University, School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, Division of Prevention and Community Research.
References (9)
- et al.
The Demographics of Social Media Users—2012
(2013) - et al.
Investigating correlates of synthetic marijuana and salvia use in light and intermittent smokers and college students in a predominantly Hispanic sample
Exp. Clin. Psychopharmacol.
(2014) - et al.
Monitoring the future national survey results on drug use, 1975–2012
(2013) - et al.
Adolescent alcohol-related risk cognitions: the role of social norms and social networking sites
Psychol. Addict. Behav.
(2011)
Cited by (30)
Emerging adults’ social media engagement & alcohol misuse: A multidimensional, person-centered analysis of risk
2024, Children and Youth Services ReviewMedia and substance use
2023, Encyclopedia of Child and Adolescent Health, First EditionTime spent on social media and alcohol use among adolescents: A longitudinal study
2022, Addictive BehaviorsCitation Excerpt :Greater increase in alcohol use was also found for adolescents with greater increase in time on SoMe. Our results are in line with previous cross-sectional studies (Brunborg et al., 2017; Gutierrez & Cooper, 2016; Sampasa-Kanyinga & Chaput, 2016; Savolainen et al., 2019) and previous prospective studies (Boers et al., 2020; Brunborg & Burdzovic Andreas, 2019; Ng et al., 2021), although some previous studies have also reported no prospective relationship (Huang et al., 2014; Smout et al., 2021). This is the first longitudinal study to examine gender differences in these associations.
A social media intervention for cannabis use among emerging adults: Randomized controlled trial
2022, Drug and Alcohol DependenceCitation Excerpt :We developed and piloted a new 8-week MI-based intervention using a novel, constantly accessible platform: social media. EAs are avid users of social media (84%, M=46 h/month) (Gutierrez and Cooper, 2016). Others have used social media for health behavior interventions (Bonar et al., 2020; Bull et al., 2012; Maier et al., 2020; Pagoto et al., 2016; Ramo et al., 2015; Young et al., 2015), moving the intervention out of the clinician’s office or school and into daily life where behavior change occurs, but none have targeted cannabis.
Associations between digital technology and substance use among U.S. adolescents: Results from the 2018 Monitoring the Future survey
2020, Drug and Alcohol DependenceCitation Excerpt :We hypothesize that these adolescents are more social online and offline, increasing their opportunity risk, and might enjoy spending unsupervised time with friends. Existing literature indicates that adolescents who use technologies that promote interaction, such as social media, are more likely to use substances (Brunborg et al., 2017; Brunborg and Andreas, 2019; Gommans et al., 2014; Gutierrez and Cooper, 2016; Ohannessian et al., 2017), underscoring that the results presented here are consistent with the broader literature. While the associations observed here are consistent with a social interaction mechanism, it is worth underscoring that new modes of technology have the potential to expose adolescents to advertising aimed at increasing substance use (Anderson et al., 2009).