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Intersection of Big Five Personality Traits and Substance Use on Social Media Discourse: AI-Powered Observational
Julina Maharjan1, Ruoming Jin1, Jianfeng Zhu1
1Department of Computer Science, Kent State University, 800 East Summit Street, Kent, OH, 44242, United States, 1 3305931365.
Journal of Medical Internet Research
|December 19, 2025
Summary
Social traits like agreeableness strongly predict substance use (SU) in online discussions, while neuroticism shows a protective effect. These findings challenge traditional models and highlight social drivers in digital substance use.
Area of Science:
- Computational social science
- Psychology
- Public health
Background:
- Personality traits influence substance use (SU), but their role in digital discourse is understudied.
- The COVID-19 pandemic amplified online engagement and SU rates, offering a unique data source.
- Digital discourse analysis provides insights beyond traditional self-report methods for public health interventions.
Purpose of the Study:
- Evaluate shifts in Big Five personality trait associations with SU discourse from 2019-2021.
- Analyze how personality traits predict SU, substance types, emotions, and demographics.
- Investigate the impact of the pandemic on these associations.
Main Methods:
- Analyzed millions of public social media posts from 2019-2021.
- Utilized natural language processing and deep learning to identify SU posts and extract trait, emotion, and demographic data.
- Employed trend analysis, logistic regression, correlation, and topic modeling for relationship elucidation.
Main Results:
- Agreeableness (OR 4.04) and Extraversion (OR 3.22) were strong positive predictors of SU.
- Neuroticism unexpectedly acted as a protective factor (OR 0.29) against SU.
- SU discourse was linked to social contexts (e.g., social drinking) rather than solitary coping.
Conclusions:
- Online SU expression is more associated with social traits than negative emotionality, challenging conventional models.
- The protective role of neuroticism suggests digital environments may alter established risk profiles.
- Findings are crucial for refining computational public health surveillance and interventions in the digital age.
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