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330684
College students' use of mobile phones during episodes of alcohol and marijuana use


Sunday, November 1, 2015

Jennifer Whitehill, PhD, Department of Health Promotion and Policy, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA
Suzanne Rataj, MPH, School of Public Health and Health Sciences, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Amherst, MA
Megan Moreno, MD, MSEd, MPH, Social Media and Adolescent Health Research Team, Seattle Children's Research Institute, Seattle, WA
Megan Pumper, BA, Social Media and Adolescent Health Research Team, Seattle Children's Research Institute, Seattle, WA
Background: Substance use is a leading health threat among college students. Widespread use of mobile devices among this population holds potential for delivering interventions to prevent substance-related harm. Mobile social networking sites (SNS), text messaging (TM), location-based services (LBS), and other applications (apps) may offer opportunities to intervene at the point when students make decisions about substances and related risks.

Methods:Data are being collected in an ongoing study of randomly sampled college students (n = 200) who report using alcohol or marijuana in the past week. For the highest-quantity episode, we assess substance use timing, location, and social context, as well as the types of technology (SNS, TM, LBS, and other apps) used and general content of communications. Using descriptive statistics, we will examine the proportion of students using each technology by substance used (alcohol, marijuana or both).  Regression analyses will assess factors associated with using each technology during the episode.

Results: Preliminary results indicate that during alcohol use, Facebook and SnapChat are the most commonly used SNS. Students primarily access SNS via a mobile phone app, and utilize SNS before, during, and after returning home from drinking. Additional results will quantify proportions and odds of technology use during both alcohol and marijuana use episodes, and whether technology use varies by the quantity of substances consumed and other factors.

Conclusions: This study will provide a detailed picture of students’ mobile technology use before, during, and after episodes of substance use. Implications for prevention efforts will be discussed.

Learning Areas:

Public health or related research

Learning Objectives:
Describe the types of mobile technologies (including social networking sites, text messaging, mobile applications) used by college students during episodes of alcohol and marijuana use Discuss differences in mobile technology use by type of substance used and the implications this has for interventions to prevent substance-related harm.

Keyword(s): Alcohol Use, Technology

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I designed the study, obtained funding, and was responsible for conduct of the research.
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: 2059.0: Polysubstance use in youth, emerging adults, and other priority populations