The reason why college students present themselves on social media, particularly regarding ARC, can be further explained by social norms theory, which posits individuals are influenced by their perceptions of peers’ behaviors and attitudes 35. Borsari and Carey 36 applied this framework to elucidate how peers influence college student drinking. They proposed that students can indirectly influence others by modeling drinking as a desirable and socially acceptable behavior. Previous literature 37 has demonstrated that young older adults national institute on alcohol abuse and alcoholism niaaa people perceive that both their peers and influencers portray drinking as a desirable behavior. Thus, according to this theory, following being exposed to a steady stream of ARC shared by peers and influencers that normalize drinking, students may feel compelled to post their own ARC to meet the prevailing norms within their social networks. Furthermore, research has demonstrated that being exposed to others’ ARC is linked to heavy alcohol use 38, 39.
- Although previous clinical research has validated use of the AUDIT-C, its test–retest reliability—a measure of the consistency of a test’s results over time—has not been evaluated in routine-care conditions with adult primary care patients.
- The NIAAA is the lead agency for U.S. research on the causes, consequences, prevention and treatment of alcohol use disorder and alcohol-related problems.
- Based on their analysis of data from a large U.S. study of smoking and health, researchers believe the results clearly show the benefit of pairing smoking cessation with addiction recovery efforts.
- The screening assessed inclusion and exclusion criteria to determine eligibility for participation in the study as well as other related questions such as how much they viewed others’ ARC posts.
- If you drink excessively, seek medical help to plan a safe recovery as sudden abstinence can be life threatening.
Play it safe this summer and be mindful of alcohol’s effects on the body
In either case, however, alcohol is still absorbed into the bloodstream at a much faster rate than it is metabolized. Thus, the blood alcohol concentration builds when a person has additional drinks before prior drinks are metabolized. In the United States, a “standard drink” or “alcoholic drink equivalent” is any drink containing 14 grams, or about 0.6 fluid ounces, of “pure” ethanol. As shown in the illustration, this amount is found in 12 ounces of regular beer (with 5% ABV or alc/vol), 5 ounces of table wine (with 12% alc/vol), or 1.5 ounces of 80-proof distilled spirits (with 40% alc/vol). When AUD and other mental health conditions co-occur, treatment is most likely to be successful when both are addressed.
Here, we briefly share the basics about AUD, from risk to diagnosis to recovery. This article introduces several AUD topics that link to other Core articles for more detail. First, a research team member familiarized themselves with the transcripts for all 20 participants.
Subtheme 3: master drinker
For data years 1977–2021, the alcohol by volume (ABV; i.e., proportion of ethanol for each beverage type) values are 0.045 for beer, 0.129 for wine, and 0.411 for spirits (Doernberg and Stinson 1985). Conversely, those who self-present via posting ARC in which alcohol is utilized as an accessory (social/outgoing, sophisticated, and material status) may be able to disengage from drinking more easily since alcohol may not be as central to their self-concept. The current research revealed that students exhibited two main types of ARC identities; however, given the qualitative nature of the study it was beyond the scope of the study to explore the above assumptions.
Women and Alcohol
Nonetheless, probabilities of endorsement of certain criteria were relatively low, including interference with activities (0.13), role problems (0.17), and legal problems (0.12). Although endorsement of NIAAA risk guidelines differentiated low-risk and moderate-risk drinkers, high-risk drinkers were as likely as moderate-risk drinkers to endorse more than seven drinks per week (.82 vs .80) but more likely to endorse heavy episodic drinking (.78 vs .56). Although the consumption-related risk factor differentiated the moderate-risk drinker from the low-risk drinker, the high-risk drinking class was distinct because of its high likelihood of DSM-IV criteria endorsement. Indeed, previous research has uncovered that students who endorse higher drinking identities tend to consume more alcohol 47 and socialize with like-minded heavier drinking peers 48, 49. Respondents completed a 7-minute screening questionnaire administered through Qualtrics, an online survey platform.
Bayesian Information Criterion, Akaike Information Criterion, sample size-adjusted Bayesian Information Criterion, average class probabilities, and substantive considerations were used to evaluate the optimum number of classes (Nylund et al., 2007). In cultivating their ARC identities in this way, they were able to able to increase social cohesion while maintaining an appropriate image to the outside world. However, in group members were still able to pick up on peers’ alcohol-related behaviors. We will discuss how the overarching theme of secrecy/implicit signaling is demonstrated within the partier and humorist subthemes of the alcohol as a focal point central theme and also within the social/outgoing and sophisticated subthemes of the alcohol as an accessory central theme. After analyzing college students’ ARC social media posts, two central themes emerged.
What Are Other Harms of Alcohol Misuse?
Those outside of the peer group, such as family, may not have approved of these students’ drinking alcohol. Therefore, students with social/outgoing ARC identities sometimes featured their activities with peers while disguising their alcohol consumption during these events. They also tended to use platform specific features which allowed ARC content to disappear after a certain timeframe (e.g., Snapchat stories which typically disappear from view after 24 h). One participant revealed, “The reason we take the Yeti tumblers out is because if we’re going to a game or something but we’re just going to the tailgate without actually going to the game, that’s the best way for us to take pictures without having to worry.
Wave 2 of the NESARC survey will allow us to compare the 3-year outcomes by latent class membership. Based on our results, we found that college students’ creation of ARC identities on social media fell within two central themes, with alcohol either as the focal point of their identity, or with alcohol used as an accessory to complement the identity they were trying to portray. According to symbolic interactionism 20,21,22,23, students utilized the symbols of alcohol as a conduit to connect to other people.
- This is concerning given that exposure to ARC may lead students to overestimate others’ alcohol use and perceived approval of heavy drinking which, in turn, may not only influence the individual’s alcohol consumption but also amplify alcohol use within their social network.
- One participant revealed, “The reason we take the Yeti tumblers out is because if we’re going to a game or something but we’re just going to the tailgate without actually going to the game, that’s the best way for us to take pictures without having to worry.
- But yeah this is like one of the very few nights were I took a whole bunch of stuff…this I just like—like direct message—direct messaged to like this group chat that we have,” (Female, 18, Snapchat direct message).
- In the central theme of alcohol as a focal point, alcohol was featured prominently as part of students’ ARC identities such that drinking defined students’ presence on social media.
- This may provide both researchers and clinicians with greater insight into who is most at risk in order to tailor prevention and intervention efforts.
In doing so, students created a shared sense of identity on social media, which met the expectations of their in-group and/or what they perceived to be “normal” for a college student. This may be because drinking behaviors are often normalized and even celebrated as a rite of passage in college. In line with the theory of public commitment 24, students appeared to be driven to maintain a consistent presence online given that they were aware that their posts were being viewed by their peers.
For instance, literature on students who are abstainers has found that, although these students chose not to drink, they do not perceive being a “non-drinker” as a core part of their identity 55. Alcohol as an accessory identities were carefully constructed by the poster to portray what they believed to be an enticing image to their audience. Rather than dominating the students’ ARC identities, the presence of alcohol merely reinforced their way of life.
HOW TO FIND QUALITY ALCOHOL TREATMENT
A social or outgoing ARC identity was characterized by actively participating in college events while drinking socially, typically in the company of like-minded peers. Another student shared, “It’s normally like, when I go out on the weekends and stuff like that, I’m normally out drinking, so. The only time I ever make Snapchat stories is when I actually go out and do something, so I don’t think most people would want to see a post of me just sitting watching Netflix 5 nights a week,” (Male, 25, Snapchat story). Similarly, another participant mentioned, “…in the month of September, I felt like I was, like even though I posted really little and stuff, but those specific parties I went to I was like, “Oh, I’m in college!