Date of Award

2023-12-01

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Department

Psychology

Advisor(s)

April Thomas

Abstract

Alcohol and marijuana are widely used by youths across the U.S. [Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), 2023], and youthsâ?? use of such substances comes with a myriad of consequences (e.g., increased risk for long-term substance abuse; Griffin et al., 2019). Social influence is one process through which youths may develop positive attitudes towards substance use (Steinberg & Monahan, 2007), but there is a dearth of research on how such influence operates within the online environment. The present study sought to examine associations between daily social media use and youthsâ?? daily attitudes towards alcohol and marijuana useâ??as well as how these associations vary based on poster characteristics, developmental characteristics, and post valenceâ??in a sample of youths aged 14 to 20 years old (Mage = 18.2 years) with a history of past-month substance use. Multilevel models revealed that the associations between daily social media use and daily attitudes towards alcohol and marijuana use depended on developmental characteristics. Among younger participants, more time spent on social media was related to more positive attitudes towards alcohol use; among older participants, more time spent on social media was instead related to more negative attitudes towards alcohol use (β = -0.002, R2 = .12). Further, among those with low susceptibility to peer influence, more time spent on social media was related to more negative attitudes towards marijuana use; among those with high susceptibility to peer influence, this association was reversed (β = -0.004, R2 = .068). The ways in which youths develop attitudes towards substance use may differ depending on the substance in questionâ??with age being important in understanding attitudes towards alcohol use and susceptibility to peer influence being important in understanding attitudes towards marijuana use. Findings from the present study contribute to the present knowledge of online social influence as it relates to antecedents of youthsâ?? engagement in health risk behaviors.

Language

en

Provenance

Recieved from ProQuest

File Size

128 p.

File Format

application/pdf

Rights Holder

Anna Dmitriyevna Ziencina

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Psychology Commons

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