RT Journal
A1 Moreno MA, Christakis DA, Egan KG, Brockman LN, Becker T
T1 ASsociations between displayed alcohol references on facebook and problem drinking among college students
JF Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine
JO Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine
YR 2012
FD February 1
VO 166
IS 2
SP 157
OP 163
DO 10.1001/archpediatrics.2011.180
UL http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/archpediatrics.2011.180
AB Objective 
                  To examine the associations between displayed alcohol use and intoxication/problem drinking (I/PD) references on Facebook and self-reported problem drinking using a clinical scale.Design 
                  Content analysis and cross-sectional survey.Setting 
                  Facebook Web site (http://www.facebook.com/).Participants 
                  The study included undergraduate students (age range, 18-20 years) at 2 state universities with public Facebook profiles.Main Exposures 
                  The profiles were categorized into 1 of 3 distinct categories: Nondisplayers, Alcohol Displayers, and I/PD Displayers.Outcome Measures 
                  An online survey measured problem drinking using the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) scale. Analyses examined associations between alcohol display category and (1) AUDIT problem drinking category using logistic regression, (2) AUDIT score using negative binomial regression, and (3) alcohol-related injury using the Fisher exact test.Results 
                  Among 307 profiles identified, 224 participants completed the survey (73% response rate). The average age was 18.8 years; 122 (54%) were female; 152 (68%) were white; and approximately 50% were from each university. Profile owners who displayed I/PD were more likely (odds ratio, 4.4; 95% CI, 2.0-9.4) to score in the problem drinking category of the AUDIT scale, had 64.0% (incidence rate ratio, 1.64; 95% CI, 1.27-11.0) higher AUDIT scores overall, and were more likely to report an alcohol-related injury in the past year (P = .002).Conclusions 
                  Displayed references to I/PD were positively associated with AUDIT scores suggesting problem drinking as well as alcohol-related injury. Results suggest that clinical criteria for problem drinking can be applied to Facebook alcohol references.