Experimental Test of Facebook Social Drinking Norms on Adolescent Alcohol Use (Network)

The proposed research will be the first study to focus on experimentally manipulating both injunctive and descriptive norms on social networking sites in order to elucidate the relationship between alcohol and abstainer displays on social networking sites and subsequent alcohol cognitions, use, and related negative consequences. Based on literature focusing on developmentally appropriate health models for adolescents, the Prototype Willingness Model (PWM) assumes that health-risk behaviors occur either when individuals have developed intentions to engage in a risk behavior (and these intentions vary as a function of attitudes and perceived injunctive norms) or through willingness to engage in risks (which varies as a function of perceived vulnerability to negative consequences, perceived descriptive norms , and prototypes). To fully understand the relationships between alcohol abstaining displays on social networking sites, we will examine 1) the role of descriptive and injunctive abstainer and user norms, when experimentally manipulated with SNS profiles, on willingness and intentions, subsequent alcohol use and related negative consequences among adolescents (age 1 5-20) 2) whether intentions and willingness mediate the relation between our experimental manipulation and subsequent alcohol use and negative consequences and whether 3) individual differences in social influence moderate the effect of the experimental manipulation on intentions, willingness, alcohol use, and negative consequences. We will test these aims by recruiting a community sample of adolescents (N = 300), living in the greater Seattle metropolitan area. Participants will complete a web-based baseline assessment and participate in an in-person experimental manipulation in which they are either assigned to see same-sex social networking site profiles of alcohol abstainers, abstainers +users, or a control condition where neither user or abstainer information will be provided. Immediately after the manipulation, participants will answer a series of questions about the profiles they just viewed and their alcohol-related cognitions. Participants will also complete a one-month in person follow up assessment to test for impacts on intentions, willingness, alcohol use, and related negative consequences. Additionally, individual differences in social influence will be examined as possible moderators o f the relationship between SNS-portrayed norms and our primary outcomes. This study is both significant and innovative in that it uses a theoretical perspective to experimentally test the impact of alcohol content, in particular abstainer norms, on Facebook on adolescent alcohol use and related cognitions. The results have the potential to inform preventative interventions while addressing NIH priorities.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Risk-Taking; Underage Alcohol Use; Feedback, Psychological
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Abstainer; Behavioral: Abstainer + User; Behavioral: Control

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 306
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Washington
    • Seattle, Washington, United States, 98105
      • Center for the Study of Health and Risk Behaviors

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 15 years to 20 years (Child, Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Must be between 15 and 20 years old
• Must reside within Seattle area
• Must use alcohol at least once in the last 6 months
• Must have valid email address
• Must have active profile on social networking site (Facebook, Instagram and/or Snapchat)
• Regular access to the web or personal mobile phone
• Willing to come to office for the experimental manipulation and post-manipulation assessment.

Exclusion Criteria:

• The only exclusion criteria is not to not meet the above inclusion criteria

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Other
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Single

Number of Arms

3

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Abstainer; Participants view social networking site profiles with alcohol content that references abstaining from alcohol use.	Behavioral: Abstainer; Participants view social networking site profiles with alcohol content referencing abstaining from alcohol use.
Experimental: Abstainer + User; Participants view social networking site profiles with alcohol content that references both abstaining from alcohol use and using alcohol.	Behavioral: Abstainer + User; Participants view social networking site profiles with alcohol content referencing abstaining from alcohol use and using alcohol.
Experimental: Control; Participants view social networking site profiles with no alcohol content.	Behavioral: Control; Participants view social networking site profiles with no alcohol content.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in Willingness and Intentions to Use Alcohol	Assesses willingness to use alcohol and intentions to use alcohol at Baseline, Post-Manipulation, and 1-Month Follow-Up assessments.	Baseline, Post-Manipulation and 1-Month Follow-Up time points
Change in Self-Reported Alcohol Use	Assesses self-reported alcohol use (using the Daily Drinking Questionnaire and Quantity Frequency measures) at Baseline and 1-Month Follow-Up assessments.	Baseline and 1-Month Follow-Up time points
Change in Alcohol-Related Negative Consequences	Assesses alcohol-related negative consequences (using the Young Adult Alcohol Consequences Questionnaire) at Baseline and 1-Month Follow Up.	Baseline and 1-Month Follow-Up time points

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Washington
• Collaborators: University of North Texas Health Science Center

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): March 22, 2017
• Primary Completion (Actual): October 1, 2017
• Study Completion (Actual): April 30, 2018

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: May 16, 2017
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 16, 2017
• First Posted (Actual): May 18, 2017

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): November 21, 2019
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 20, 2019
• Last Verified: November 1, 2019

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Drinking Behavior; Alcohol Drinking; Underage Drinking
• Other Study ID Numbers: 50829

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO
• IPD Plan Description: A select number of researchers will have access to unidentified participant data at the close of the study.

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No