Recruiting for addiction research via Facebook

Area of Science:

• Addiction research methodology
• Social media in scientific recruitment
• Public health and substance use studies

Background:

• Traditional recruitment methods for addiction research can be costly and may not reach diverse populations.
• The increasing prevalence of social media platforms necessitates exploring their utility in research participant recruitment.
• Understanding the feasibility of using social networking sites for recruiting individuals with specific health conditions is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the feasibility and cost-effectiveness of recruiting participants for addiction research using Facebook advertisements.
• To compare the characteristics of participants recruited via Facebook versus traditional methods.
• To determine if Facebook recruitment captures a population with higher severity of substance use and mental health issues.

Main Methods:

• Participants were recruited through Facebook advertisements, a local research register, and university psychology courses.
• A self-report survey was administered to collect data on substance use, mental health history, and psychological distress.
• Statistical analyses were performed to compare demographic and clinical characteristics between recruitment groups.

Main Results:

• Facebook recruitment yielded 524 participants at a cost of $1.86 per participant, compared to 418 via traditional methods.
• The Facebook sample reported significantly higher current use and harmful use of tobacco and cannabis.
• Facebook-recruited participants exhibited a higher prevalence of high-severity cannabis use and more severe depressive symptoms.

Conclusions:

• Social networking sites, particularly Facebook, are efficient and cost-effective for recruiting large numbers of participants for addiction research.
• Facebook recruitment successfully captures a greater proportion of individuals with high-severity substance use and mental health issues.
• This approach allows for the study of a wider and more severe range of substance use behaviors and associated conditions.