Instagram Participation and Substance Use Among Emerging Adults: The Potential Perils of Peer Belonging

The impact of sexual scripts in brand-generated cannabis social media posts on sex-related cannabis expectancies: Does body appreciation moderate effects?

INTRODUCTION

Cannabis messaging on digital media may include sexualised portrayals. We examined whether exposure to and perceptions of cannabis posts that included sexual objectification impacted two types of sex-related cannabis expectancies-sexual risk and sexual enhancement-and whether body appreciation moderated these relationships.

METHODS

We conducted an online experiment with college students in Washington state. Participants viewed three brand-generated cannabis Instagram posts that either included sexually objectified women or recreational appeals (e.g., sitting by a firepit). We conducted regressions, using the PROCESS macro, to examine the hypothesized model and potential mediation and moderation.

RESULTS

Exposure to sexualised advertisements was associated with increased perceptions of cannabis sex enhancement scripts (b = 0.34, p < 0.01), which was associated with increased cannabis sex enhancement expectancies (b = 0.34, p < 0.001) and decreased cannabis sexual risk expectancies (b = -0.16, p < 0.001); exposure to such advertisements were also associated with increased perceptions of cannabis sexual risk scripts (b = 0.61, p < 0.001), which was associated with increased cannabis sexual risk expectancies (b = 0.53, p < 0.001). Body appreciation was associated with increased cannabis sex enhancement expectancies (b = 0.13, p < 0.01) and moderated the relationship between exposure to sexualised ads and cannabis sex enhancement expectancies (b = -0.21, p < 0.01).

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS

Practitioners may want to consider how to increase critical consumption of cannabis content on digital media. Researchers should consider the possible role of body appreciation as it relates to cannabis and sex enhancement expectancies.

Social networking sites passive use and its effects on sad-happy mood

The social comparison theory explains some negative effect of social networking sites (SNSs) use. These Internet applications have made easier the online social comparison that in turn predicts depression and lower life satisfaction. Individuals prone to depression engage in greater levels of social comparison, particularly with others who are thought to be slightly better off, and experience a decrease in mood or self-esteem in the light of others? perceived happiness. The present study aimed at investigating the impact of the use of SNSs on the mood in an experimental design. In total, 120 university students were randomly assigned to one of two groups. In the experimental groups, the participants were instructed to access their Facebook and browse personal profiles for 20 minutes; while in the control, they read articles. For the participants with initial low mood using Facebook further lowered their mood whereas for the other participants did not have any effect. Furthermore, using Facebook lowered the mood of the participants not accustomed to use it frequently.

Digital Public Health Surveillance Tools for Alcohol Use and HIV Risk Behaviors

There is a need for real-time and predictive data on alcohol use both broadly and specific to HIV. However, substance use and HIV data often suffer from lag times in reporting as they are typically measured from surveys, clinical case visits and other methods requiring extensive time for collection and analysis. Social big data might help to address this problem and be used to provide near real-time assessments of people's alcohol use and/or alcohol. This manuscript describes three types of social data sources (i.e., social media data, internet search data, and wearable device data) that might be used in surveillance of alcohol and HIV, and then discusses the implications and potential of implementing them as additional tools for public health surveillance.

Prospective Relationships Between Objectively Assessed Social Media Use, Drinking Norms, and Alcohol Consumption Among First-Year Students

OBJECTIVE

Previous research has linked social media involvement and alcohol use among college students. However, this literature has been limited by self-report measures of social media use, cross-sectional data, inadequate attention to potential moderators and mediators, and unclear implications for interventions. To improve and extend this work, students' (N = 297) daily time on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat during the transition into college were assessed objectively and examined as predictors of later drinking.

METHOD

Time spent on social media overall and on each individual platform between August and September were examined as predictors of alcohol consumption in March. Perceptions of peer drinking norms in October were examined as a potential mediator of these relationships, and sex as a potential moderator.

RESULTS

Students spent the most daily time on Snapchat, followed by Instagram. The results indicated that among men, but not women, daily social media time during the transition into college predicted second semester drinking. This relationship was mediated by perceptions of same-sex student drinking norms. Analysis of individual platforms revealed that daily time on Snapchat drove the relationships among men.

CONCLUSIONS

Greater time on social media during the transition to college, and on Snapchat in particular, predicted increases in perceptions of peer drinking norms and, in turn, greater alcohol consumption among men only. These findings carry precise implications for interventions seeking to reduce alcohol-related risks among first-year men and underscore the need for additional research examining developmental factors and social media user experiences that may explain the sex-specific patterns of relationships observed.

Cannabis Marketing and Problematic Cannabis Use Among Adolescents

OBJECTIVE

Health consequences of commercializing nonmedical cannabis remain unclear, but data suggest that youth may encounter unintended risks. This study examined whether cannabis marketing exposure and engagement are associated with problematic cannabis use among adolescents.

METHOD

The analytic sample included 172 lifetime cannabis users (15-19 years old) who lived in one of six states with legalized nonmedical cannabis in 2018. Predictors included having exposure to or engagement with cannabis marketing on Facebook or Instagram, seeing cannabis billboards, owning/likely to own cannabis-branded merchandise, and reporting a favorite cannabis brand. Logistic regression assessed whether these predictors were associated with weekly cannabis use, high-intensity cannabis use, and cannabis use disorder (CUD).

RESULTS

Adolescents who saw billboards rarely/sometimes had 5 times the odds of CUD, whereas youth who saw them most/all of the time had 7 times the odds of weekly use and 6 times the odds of CUD. Adolescents who owned/were likely to own branded merchandise had nearly 23 times the odds of weekly use, and those with a favorite brand had 3 times the odds of weekly use and CUD. Adolescents who reported seeing promotions on Instagram rarely/sometimes had 85% lower odds of weekly use, and those who saw them most/all of the time had 93% lower odds.

CONCLUSIONS

The ways cannabis businesses market their products, especially branding, may affect patterns of underage cannabis use. Future research should test whether these associations persist in longitudinal designs. In the interim, states should consider an approach that offers youth additional means to protect them from cannabis marketing.

Associations Between Substance Use and Instagram Participation to Inform Social Network-Based Screening Models: Multimodal Cross-Sectional Study

BACKGROUND

Technology-based computational strategies that leverage social network site (SNS) data to detect substance use are promising screening tools but rely on the presence of sufficient data to detect risk if it is present. A better understanding of the association between substance use and SNS participation may inform the utility of these technology-based screening tools.

OBJECTIVE

This paper aims to examine associations between substance use and Instagram posts and to test whether such associations differ as a function of age, gender, and race/ethnicity.

METHODS

Participants with an Instagram account were recruited primarily via Clickworker (N=3117). With participant permission and Instagram's approval, participants' Instagram photo posts were downloaded with an application program interface. Participants' past-year substance use was measured with an adapted version of the National Institute on Drug Abuse Quick Screen. At-risk drinking was defined as at least one past-year instance having "had more than a few alcoholic drinks a day," drug use was defined as any use of nonprescription drugs, and prescription drug use was defined as any nonmedical use of prescription medications. We used logistic regression to examine the associations between substance use and any Instagram posts and negative binomial regression to examine the associations between substance use and number of Instagram posts. We examined whether age (18-25, 26-38, 39+ years), gender, and race/ethnicity moderated associations in both logistic and negative binomial models. All differences noted were significant at the .05 level.

RESULTS

Compared with no at-risk drinking, any at-risk drinking was associated with both a higher likelihood of any Instagram posts and a higher number of posts, except among Hispanic/Latino individuals, in whom at-risk drinking was associated with a similar number of posts. Compared with no drug use, any drug use was associated with a higher likelihood of any posts but was associated with a similar number of posts. Compared with no prescription drug use, any prescription drug use was associated with a similar likelihood of any posts and was associated with a lower number of posts only among those aged 39 years and older. Of note, main effects showed that being female compared with being male and being Hispanic/Latino compared with being White were significantly associated with both a greater likelihood of any posts and a greater number of posts.

CONCLUSIONS

Researchers developing computational substance use risk detection models using Instagram or other SNS data may wish to consider our findings showing that at-risk drinking and drug use were positively associated with Instagram participation, while prescription drug use was negatively associated with Instagram participation for middle- and older-aged adults. As more is learned about SNS behaviors among those who use substances, researchers may be better positioned to successfully design and interpret innovative risk detection approaches.