Under the influence of Facebook? Excess use of social networking sites and drinking motives, consequences, and attitudes in college students

This research study investigates the relationship between excessive use of social networking sites and attitudes and behaviors related to alcohol consumption in college students. The study aims to assess potential discrepancies in patterns of alcohol consumption, frequency and intensity of drinking issues, motivations for drinking alcohol, adverse complications that result from drinking, effective and ineffective efforts to abstain from drinking, and general outlook towards alcohol intake. The findings suggest that excessive social networking sites usage is associated with more positive attitudes towards alcohol usage and more adverse complications from drinking.

Individual Papers

Contents
Quantitative Research Study Paper:................................................................................................3
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Research Problem and Purpose of Study.........................................................................................3
PICO framework for the research question.................................................................................4
Theoretical Framework and Review of Literature...........................................................................4
Methodology....................................................................................................................................4
Results..............................................................................................................................................5
Measurement: Validity and Reliability............................................................................................5
Strengths and Limitations................................................................................................................5
Clinical Relevance/Applicability.....................................................................................................6
References........................................................................................................................................7

Quantitative Research Study Paper:
Under the influence of Facebook? Excess use of social networking sites and drinking motives,
consequences, and attitudes in college students
Introduction
It is observed that usage of social media sites has become universal in recent times particularly
by the adolescents and young adults. The usage may become extreme or maladaptive. Recently,
excessive use of social networking websites has been theorized as a behavioral addiction. Certain
key criteria have been used to diagnose the substance dependence and these are shown to be
linked with a range of ailments in psychosocial performance which includes an enhanced
likelihood of problematic drinking. Usage of social networking websites can be related to alcohol
consumption in various ways. Publicity of substance use in conventional mass media units. It is
an established risk factor for alcohol use among youth, likewise, social networking sites act in
circulating information that develops the perceived social patterns for youth alcohol use.
Secondly, alcohol consumption can encourage excess or maladaptive usage of social networking
sites like by giving a new platform to participate in dangerous or hazardous behaviors in the state
of intoxication such as uploading embarrassing or exposing information on social networking
sites. In addition, there is a strong possibility of shared risk factors that may enhance the
susceptibility to both alcohol-related issues and excessive social networking sites usage. The
chosen seeks to describe links between disordered social networking sites usage and attitudes
regarding alcohol, drinking motives, and serious complications occurring due to alcohol
consumption in adolescents.
Research Problem and Purpose of Study
The chosen study was conducted to investigate the relationship between use of social networking
sites and attitudes and behaviors based on alcohol intake among college students of the United
States. The chosen population is appropriate as both the intervention behaviors are frequently
observed among college students along with their related significant impairment (Griffiths, Kuss,
& Demetrovics, 2014). The population is relevant also because of the comparatively high legal

drinking age that is 21 years, which render any kind of alcohol consumption illegal in this age
group. The intervention and outcome is also relevant as various previous studies have indicated
the possibility in this direction (Hormes, Kearns, & Timko, 2014). But the study is particularly
focusing on assessing potential discrepancies in patterns of alcohol consumption, frequency and
intensity of drinking issues, motivations for drinking alcohol, adverse complications that result
from drinking, effective and ineffective efforts to abstain from drinking, and general outlook
towards alcohol intake, including any evidence for disputing (that is simultaneous positive and
negative) or uncertain attitudes, in people meeting the formerly recognized diagnostic standards
for disordered social networking site use as compared to their fellows.
It is hypothesized that excessive social networking sites usage would be related to substantially
more positive attitudes towards alcohol usage and considerably more adverse complications from
drinking. It was postulated that ill-adaptive coping aims and emotion dysregulation skills would
appear as mutual risk factors for both the problem behaviors in the target population of the study.
PICO framework for the research question
Population (P) College students/Young adults
Intervention (I) Excessive or maladaptive use of social networking sites
Comparison (C)
Outcome (O) Problematic alcohol consumption
Theoretical Framework and Review of Literature
Literature review is comparatively brief but relevant. A more thorough and comprehensive
literature review would have been better in providing a deep understanding of all the aspects that
the chosen study is aiming to include. However, majority of the reference included in the review
are current as the topic of the study is also recent.
Methodology
Undergraduate students with 64% female population from a large University in the Northeastern
United States participated in the study by reporting their usage of social networking sites. In

addition, Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test, Temptation and Restraint Inventory,
Approach and Avoidance of Alcohol and Drinking Motives Questionnaires, and Drinker
Inventory of Consequences were also completed by them.
A comparatively low proportion of missing values were identified for majority of the variables,
so no measure were employed to replace the missing values, however, the those were excluded
from the analysis. A comparison between various demographic groups and people with and
without disordered social networking sites usage was drawn by using chi-square and independent
samples t-tests. Relationships between disordered social networking sites usage and scores on the
different instruments used were studied through a sequence of univariate (ANCOVA) and
multivariate analyses of co-variance (MANCOVA, for the scales which had multiple factors).
Initially, gender and race were included as co-variates in all the analyses but later these were
removed when found non-significant.
Results
It was found that the participants who were previously came under the criteria of “disordered
social networking site usage” were considerably more prone to consume alcohol to deal with the
adverse impact and to adapt to the perceived social standards, reported substantially higher
disputing attitudes regarding alcohol, and had faced considerably higher and frequent negative
complications from drinking in their functioning, as compared to people without issues
associated with social networking site usage.
Measurement: Validity and Reliability
All the instruments used in the study were reliable and well-validated. Therefore, it can
established that there is no threat to reliability and validity.
Strengths and Limitations
The study has various limitations. Since the questionnaire was posted online, it may have been
prejudiced in favor of respondents who had increased level of familiarity of the Internet.

Retrospective self-report method was used to assess the alcohol and social networking sites
usage which is susceptible to bias (Rosenman, Tennekoon, & Hill, 2011). Also, the cross-
sectional data of the chosen study do not address the course of causality in the relationship
between disordered social networking site usage and alcohol-related issues. It fails to establish
the cause and effect association between the two issues as it did not track alcohol and social
networking site usage behaviors for prolonged period. In addition, it must be noted that the
sample in the chosen study is rather unique due to comparatively high lawful drinking age of 21
years in the United States. As most of the participants in the chosen study use alcohol
unlawfully, it may the reason of increased prevalence of negative complications and uncertain
attitudes associated with alcohol intake. So, the study lacks a more geographically and culturally
diverse participant sample which is an obstruction in the generalizability of the findings (Watts,
Phillips, Petticrew, Harden, & Renton, 2011).
Clinical Relevance/Applicability
The results do not have any specific use in evidence-based practice but they add to an emerging
bulk of literature indicating an association between excessive or maladaptive use of social
networking websites and issues linked with alcohol in young adults. Findings indicated that the
proposed diagnostic criteria for disordered social networking sites use encompass a clinically
significant bunch of symptoms that point towards distress as well as impairment related to
excessive or maladaptive use of social networking sites. These also point towards heightened risk
of comorbid issues occurring due to alcohol use. The findings direct towards poor emotional
regulation and coping drives as potential mutual risk factors for both issues that are, substance
and behavioral addictions in the targeted demographic population.

References
Griffiths, Kuss, & Demetrovics. (2014). Social networking addiction: An overview of
preliminary findings. In Rosenberg, & Feder, Behavioral addictions. Criteria, evidence,
and treatment (pp. 119-141). New York: Elsevier.
Hormes, Kearns, & Timko. (2014). Craving Facebook? Behavioral addiction to online social
networking and its association with emotion regulation deficits. Addiction, 109, 2079–
2088.
Rosenman, R., Tennekoon, V., & Hill, L. G. (2011). Measuring bias in self-reported data. Int J
Behav Healthc Res, 2(4), 320-332.
Watts, P., Phillips, G., Petticrew, M., Harden, A., & Renton, A. (2011). The influence of
environmental factors on the generalisability of public health research evidence: physical
activity as a worked example. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act, 8.