Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 11, 2026
08:53
Integrating Computerized Linguistic and Social Network Analyses to Capture Addiction Recovery Capital in an Online Community
Published on: May 31, 2019
Social Media Use Trajectories and Substance Use Experimentation: A Prospective Cohort Study
Jason M Nagata1,2, Jennifer H Wong1, Samuel E Benabou1
1Division of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco.
The American Journal of Psychiatry
|June 10, 2026
Summary
Increasing social media use in adolescents is linked to higher odds of experimenting with alcohol, cannabis, and nicotine. Early and rapid increases in social media time showed the strongest associations with substance experimentation.
Area of Science:
- Adolescent Health
- Digital Media Studies
- Substance Use Research
Background:
- Longitudinal studies on social media and adolescent substance use are limited.
- Cross-sectional research provides an incomplete picture of this relationship.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine prospective associations between social media time trajectories and substance use experimentation in adolescents.
- To identify patterns of social media use over time and their link to experimentation with alcohol, cannabis, and nicotine.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of data from 7,166 adolescents (ages 9-16) from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study.
- Group-based trajectory modeling to identify social media use patterns from baseline to year 4.
- Logistic regression to assess associations between trajectories and substance experimentation at year 5, controlling for covariates.
Main Results:
- Four distinct social media time trajectories were identified: no/low use, moderate increasing, mid-onset rapid increasing, and early-onset rapid increasing.
- All increasing social media trajectories were associated with higher odds of alcohol, cannabis, and nicotine experimentation compared to no/low use.
- The early-onset, rapid increasing trajectory showed the largest association with substance experimentation, particularly cannabis (aOR=16.86).
Conclusions:
- Increasing social media use trajectories are prospectively linked to a greater likelihood of adolescent substance use experimentation.
- Findings highlight the importance of addressing digital habits in early adolescence for public health.
- Interventions promoting healthier social media engagement may help mitigate substance use risks.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
01:24Substance Use Disorders Affecting Sleep
Substance use disorders involve a pattern of using drugs more extensively than intended and continuing use despite harmful consequences. This includes legal substances like alcohol and nicotine, as well as illegal drugs. These disorders often involve both physical and psychological dependence, reflecting compulsive use of substances that significantly alter thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, contributing to a major public health issue.
Understanding the concepts of physical dependence,...
Understanding the concepts of physical dependence,...
01:30Social Foundations of Self IV: Self in Digital Communication
Since the early 2000s, computer-mediated communication (CMC) has grown rapidly, playing a crucial role in self-development. A key distinction between CMC and real-life interactions is the lack of a physically present partner. This absence makes non-verbal cues such as facial expressions, body language, and paralinguistic signals unavailable in CMC platforms like email, instant messaging, or social media. The lack of these cues can create ambiguity and complicate how feedback is interpreted.The...
01:11Observational Studies
Observational studies are a type of analytical study where researchers observe events without any interventions. In other words, the researcher does not influence the response variable or the experiment's outcome.
There are three types of observational studies – Prospective, retrospective, and cross-sectional.
Prospective Study
Prospective studies, also known as longitudinal or cohort studies, are carried out by collecting future data from groups sharing similar characteristics. One example of...
There are three types of observational studies – Prospective, retrospective, and cross-sectional.
Prospective Study
Prospective studies, also known as longitudinal or cohort studies, are carried out by collecting future data from groups sharing similar characteristics. One example of...
01:50Cross-Sectional Research
In cross-sectional research, a researcher compares multiple segments of the population at the same time. If they were interested in people's dietary habits, the researcher might directly compare different groups of people by age. Instead of following a group of people for 20 years to see how their dietary habits changed from decade to decade, the researcher would study a group of 20-year-old individuals and compare them to a group of 30-year-old individuals and a group of 40-year-old...
01:17Drug Dependence
Medications are typically administered to achieve therapeutic effects. Some drugs can modify an individual's mood and perception, frequently resulting in various enjoyable experiences. However, this can result in drug dependency, a condition marked by continuous drug use despite potential negative consequences. Drug dependency primarily falls into two categories: psychological and physical dependence. Psychological dependence occurs when the pleasurable feelings induced by the drug...
01:15Drug Abuse and Addiction: Pharmacological Phenomena
Drug dependence, abuse, and addiction are complex phenomena that can precipitate various abnormal states. Physical dependence refers to a state of pharmacological adaptation to a drug. This adaptation often results in tolerance—a reduced response to the drug after repeated administrations. When the drug use is abruptly stopped, withdrawal symptoms occur due to the body's need to readjust from the pharmacologically induced imbalance. However, tolerance and withdrawal symptoms do not necessarily...