TY - JOUR
T1 - #drunktwitter
T2 - Examining the relations between alcohol-related Twitter content and alcohol willingness and use among underage young adults
AU - Litt, Dana M.
AU - Lewis, Melissa A.
AU - Spiro, Emma S.
AU - Aulck, Lovenoor
AU - Waldron, Katja A.
AU - Head-Corliss, Maya K.
AU - Swanson, Alex
N1 - Funding Information:
Data collection and manuscript preparation were supported by National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism Grant R01AA021379 . Manuscript preparation was also supported by National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism Grants R00AA020869 and R21AA024163 .
Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 Elsevier B.V.
PY - 2018/12/1
Y1 - 2018/12/1
N2 - Purpose: Despite the importance of social networking sites on young adult alcohol use, few studies have examined Twitter as a conduit for sharing drinking behavior. However, this work generally uses random samples of tweets and thus cannot determine the extent to which Tweets correspond with self-reported drinking cognitions or behaviors. The primary aims of the present study were to (1) document basic patterns of alcohol-related Twitter activity in a subsample of young adult drinkers, and (2) examine whether willingness to drink, alcohol use, and negative consequences are associated with alcohol-related tweeting behavior. Methods: 186 young adults age 18–20 completed an online survey and provided Twitter handle information. From these participants, a random sample of 5000 Tweets was coded by a trained team to determine whether tweets were related to alcohol use or not. Ordinary least squares regression analyses were conducted to determine whether the proportion of alcohol-related Tweets is associated with self-reported alcohol use willingness, behaviors, and negative consequences. Results: Results indicated that not only are alcohol-related tweets common among young adults, but that the proportion of one's overall tweets that are related to alcohol is significantly associated with willingness to drink, alcohol use, and negative consequences. Conclusions: The results of this study are an important step to understanding how digital behavior (e.g., posting about alcohol on Twitter) is related to an individual's self-reported drinking cognitions, alcohol use, and negative consequences and has implications for the way Twitter data can be used for public health surveillance and interventions.
AB - Purpose: Despite the importance of social networking sites on young adult alcohol use, few studies have examined Twitter as a conduit for sharing drinking behavior. However, this work generally uses random samples of tweets and thus cannot determine the extent to which Tweets correspond with self-reported drinking cognitions or behaviors. The primary aims of the present study were to (1) document basic patterns of alcohol-related Twitter activity in a subsample of young adult drinkers, and (2) examine whether willingness to drink, alcohol use, and negative consequences are associated with alcohol-related tweeting behavior. Methods: 186 young adults age 18–20 completed an online survey and provided Twitter handle information. From these participants, a random sample of 5000 Tweets was coded by a trained team to determine whether tweets were related to alcohol use or not. Ordinary least squares regression analyses were conducted to determine whether the proportion of alcohol-related Tweets is associated with self-reported alcohol use willingness, behaviors, and negative consequences. Results: Results indicated that not only are alcohol-related tweets common among young adults, but that the proportion of one's overall tweets that are related to alcohol is significantly associated with willingness to drink, alcohol use, and negative consequences. Conclusions: The results of this study are an important step to understanding how digital behavior (e.g., posting about alcohol on Twitter) is related to an individual's self-reported drinking cognitions, alcohol use, and negative consequences and has implications for the way Twitter data can be used for public health surveillance and interventions.
KW - Alcohol use
KW - Cognitions
KW - Drinking
KW - Social networking sites
KW - Twitter
KW - Young adults
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85055042549&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2018.08.021
DO - 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2018.08.021
M3 - Article
C2 - 30343237
AN - SCOPUS:85055042549
SN - 0376-8716
VL - 193
SP - 75
EP - 82
JO - Drug and Alcohol Dependence
JF - Drug and Alcohol Dependence
ER -