Elsevier

Drug and Alcohol Dependence

Volume 163, 1 June 2016, Pages 247-250
Drug and Alcohol Dependence

Short communication
The use of social networking sites: A risk factor for using alcohol, marijuana, and synthetic cannabinoids?

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2016.03.021Get rights and content

Highlights

  • Average use of social media use was 46 h per month.

  • Hours spent on social media was associated with alcohol use.

  • Hours spent on social media was associated with synthetic marijuana use.

Abstract

Background

The use of social networking sites (SNS) has become a central aspect of youth culture allowing individuals to explore and assert their identities. A commonly portrayed online identity is an “alcohol identity,” and past research suggests such identities may contribute to one’s risk of using alcohol. The present study builds on past research by examining the relationship between alcohol, marijuana, and synthetic cannabinoid use (e.g., Spice, K2) and time spent on SNS in a sample of college students.

Methods

Six hundred ninety nine undergraduates (62.4% female; Mage = 21.0, SD = 8.56) were recruited from a university on the U.S./Mexico border for an online study. Participants completed measures assessing demographics, substance use history, and amount of time spent on SNS.

Results

Participants reported spending 46 h per month on SNS. Seventy-one percent, 14%, and 3% of the sample reported past month use of alcohol, marijuana, and synthetic cannabinoids, respectively. Regression analyses revealed that hours spent on SNS in the past month were significantly associated with frequency of alcohol (p < 0.001) and synthetic cannabinoid use (p < 0.001). In addition, being male was associated with frequency of alcohol and marijuana use in the past month (p < 0.001 and p < 0.001, respectively).

Conclusions

These findings suggest that assessment of time spent on SNS is warranted in studies investigating drug use among college students.

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.

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