Dealing with Alcohol-Related Posts on Social Media

Using a Mixed-Method Approach to Understand Young Peoples’ Problem Awareness and Evaluations of Intervention Ideas

Bibliographic Data

ID15470211
AuthorsHanneke Hendriks (0000-0003-4184-0252, Radboud University Nijmegen, corresponding author), Tu Thanh Le (0000-0003-3281-1791, Ministry of Health Welfare and Sport), W A Gebhardt (0000-0002-8067-5598, Leiden University), Bas Van Den Putte (0000-0002-3635-6880, University of Amsterdam), Robyn Vanherle (0000-0003-2324-2785, Leuven School for Mass Communication Research, 3000 Leuven, Belgium)
Year2023
Volume20
Issue10
Pages5820-5820
Publication date2023-05-13
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueInternational Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1661-7827 • E-ISSN: 1660-4601
PublisherMultidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (PUBLISHER • CH)
DOI10.3390/ijerph20105820
PMID37239547
OpenAlexW4378516374
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited50

Young individuals frequently share and encounter alcohol-related content (i.e., alcohol posts) on social networking sites. The prevalence of these posts is problematic because both the sharing of and exposure to these posts can increase young individuals' alcohol (mis)use. Consequently, it is essential to develop effective intervention strategies that hinder young individuals from sharing these posts. This study aimed to develop such intervention strategies by following four steps: (1) assessing young individuals' problem awareness of alcohol posts, (2) unraveling individuals' own intervention ideas to tackle the problem of alcohol posts, (3) examining their evaluations of theory/empirical-based intervention ideas, and (4) exploring individual differences in both problem awareness and intervention evaluations. To reach these aims, a mixed-method study (i.e., focus-group interviews and surveys) among Dutch high-school and college students ( N total = 292, Age range = 16-28 years) was conducted. According to the results, most youth did not consider alcohol posts to be a problem and were, therefore, in favor of using automated warning messages to raise awareness. However, these messages might not work for every individual, as group differences in problem awareness and intervention evaluations exist. Overall, this study puts forward potential intervention ideas to reduce alcohol posts in digital spheres and can therefore serve as a steppingstone to test the actual effects of the ideas

Focus group · Intervention (counseling · Psychiatry · Social media · Sociology · World Wide Web · Applied Psychology · Behavioral Health and Interventions · Community Health and Development · Computer Science · Impact of Technology on Adolescents · Psychology · Social Psychology

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