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Online Program

329772
Peer and Social Media Influences on College Student Drinking


Sunday, November 1, 2015

Angela Robertson, Ph.D., Social Science Research Center (SSRC), Mississippi State University, Starkville, MS
Cliff McKinney, Ph.D., Department of Psychology, Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, MS
Courtney Walker, M.S., Social Science Research Center (SSRC), Mississippi State University, Starkville, MS
Background: Underage drinking and alcohol misuse on college campuses is common and is a major public health concern. A number of psychosocial and contextual risk factors for heavy drinking among college students have been identified.  Chief among these risk factors are beliefs and attitudes that heavy drinking at college is prevalent and acceptable.

Methods: Undergraduate college students (N=682) completed a survey on social network site (SNS) experiences, alcohol-related content on their SNS, peer alcohol use, drinking attitudes, and drinking behaviors.  Participants were 55.3% female, 67.6% Caucasian and 32.4% African American, and ages 18 to 22 years.  OLS regression and Structural Equation Modeling were used to assess the direct and indirect influences of peers and social media on alcohol consumption.

Results: Peers (i.e., Greek membership, proportion of friends who drink, number of SNS friends) influenced alcohol consumption directly and indirectly through perceived drinking norms.  Social media (i.e., time spent on Facebook or another SNS, alcohol-related content on SNS, alcohol marketing on SNS) influenced alcohol consumption directly and indirectly through permissive attitudes towards drunkenness.  Peer influences on drinking were stronger for males and Caucasians, while social media influences on drinking were stronger for females and African Americans.

Conclusion: Results support the Social Cognitive Theory explanation for peer and media effects.  Application of findings for alcohol misuse intervention strategies with college students will be discussed.

Learning Areas:

Social and behavioral sciences

Learning Objectives:
Identify how peers directly and indirectly influence alcohol consumption among college students. Explain how alcohol images and text references on Facebook and other social network sites (SNS) may influence perceived drinking norms, attitudes, and behavior of young adults.

Keyword(s): Alcohol Use, College Students

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am qualified to be an abstract Author on the content I am responsible for because I worked as an addiction treatment professional for 16 years. I have also conducted research on substance abuse issues among adolescents and offender populations and development and evaluated substance abuse interventions for these populations for 20 years.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

Back to: 2055.0: College drinking: populations, social media, interventions, and outcomes