The relationship between young people, social media use and alcohol use: A prospective cohort study

Abstract

Background and aims: Social media use is now a significant part of modern daily life. Little is known about how social media impacts young peoples' drinking behaviours and drinking-related consequences. This cohort study aims to explore the prospective relationship between social media use and future drinking.

Methods: 1473 alcohol naïve young people, who at Wave 5 (aged 12-13 years) reported no lifetime alcohol use, were included (social media use, peer alcohol use, and covariates were also reported at Wave 5). At Wave 8 (aged 17-18 years), participants reported alcohol use outcomes, including age of drinking initiation, past month and past week risky consumption (>10 drinks/week), and problem drinking (alcohol-related troubles, injuries, and fights).

Results: After controlling for factors known to be associated with alcohol use in young people and applying a conservative significance level (α =.01), results revealed that children who engaged in almost daily social media use at ages 12-13 later reported a younger age of drinking onset (β = -0.56, 95 % CI = -0.74, -0.39, p <.001) and greater problem drinking (β = 0.48, 95 % CI = 0.13, 0.83, p =.008) at ages 17-18, compared to those who never used social media at ages 12-13. Early social media use was not associated with odds of subsequent past-month alcohol use or risky alcohol consumption.

Conclusion: Young peoples' social media use was associated with future drinking behaviours, prompting the need for preventative measures to acknowledge the salient impacts of social media.

Keywords: Alcohol; Social media; Young adult drinking.