Research & Resources

Researchers conducted a 5-year study of alcohol and abstinence display patterns on Facebook. General alcohol use references were found to be most common in the spring semester of the third year and often included references to a “21 run.” Intoxication/problem drinking references were most common in spring semester of the freshman year and second year of college. There were no gender differences associated with alcohol displays at any time point. Abstinence displays were rare and declined in frequency to a low of four total displays in year 5. Findings may inform planning targeted interventions by time point or on different platforms. 

This paper, “A Prospective Longitudinal Cohort Study of College Students’ Alcohol and Abstinence Displays on Social Media,” was funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse and published in The Journal of adolescent health.