Social media use at a young age is linked to earlier experimentation with drugs and alcohol

By Avni Trivedi, CNN

(CNN) — The minimum age requirement for most social media platforms is 13 years old, but nearly 40% of adolescents between the ages of 8 and 12 use social media.

Doing so could lead these tweens to earlier experimentation with drugs and alcohol.

New research published this week in The American Journal of Psychiatry finds that the earlier and more rapidly adolescents use social media, the more likely they are to experiment with substances such as alcohol, tobacco and cannabis.

Many factors can lead to substance use among adolescents, experts say, including their peers and family environments. Although these new findings can provide a correlation and association between the two, they cannot prove that early social media use can cause experimentation with substances.

Dr. Jason M. Nagata, lead study author and associate professor of pediatrics at the University of California, San Francisco, found four social media use patterns for adolescents between the ages of 9 and 16.

Using data collected from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study analyzed over four years, Nagata broke the adolescents into four groups: no or very low use; moderate, gradual increasing; mid-onset, rapid increasing; and early-onset, rapid increasing. The early-onset group included any kids who started using social media at age 9, and the mid-onset group included those who began using their phones around 11.

Dr. Courtney Blackwell, associate professor of medical social sciences at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, noted the strength of the longitudinal data, which tracked the same variables over time. She cited there is a lack of that type of data in the general body of work surrounding adolescent social media use and its effects. She was not affiliated with the study.

“Instead of just using an average time use for social media,” Blackwell said, “what they were able to do is look across four years and ask, ‘How did this child change in their social media use?’ and map that to create different groups of kids.”

Adolescents who fell into the three categories of increasing use had higher odds of substance experimentation compared with their peers who reported little or no social media use. And the youths in the highest and earliest use category, which meant they engaged in social media three or more hours per day, had nearly 17 times the odds of experimenting with cannabis and 14 times the odds of experimenting with tobacco as kids with little or no use, according to the study.

“Once you’re on social media platforms getting exposed to targeted marketing related to substances or just seeing social media posts that portray substance use in a positive light,” Nagata said, “they’re all reasons why adolescents may be more likely to experiment with substances.”

Content risks

Nagata points to types of content seen on social media that can influence the decision to experiment with substances — especially at a young age. Over 50% of adolescents reported exposure to alcohol marketing on the internet, with nearly 61% of the typical people their age posting alcohol content on social media.

Social media portrays much of the substance use in a positive light, Nagata said. Young adults enjoying themselves in college or a fun advertisement for a brand of liquor fills most of the substance use content online, he said.

“People are less likely to post the adverse consequences that have happened,” Nagata said, “so I think they may be getting a bias in what they’re seeing.”

Seeing such positive content could lead to favorable beliefs about substances. Using the same Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study data, Nagata found that adolescents who had a positive outlook on the effects of cannabis were more likely to experiment with it.

Nearly 77% of substance-related content on social media is positive, based on a review of 73 studies that included an analysis of social media content on nine types of substances.

“We know that content matters, whether it’s positive or negative, when we think about social media and whether or not it influences kids’ behavior, their mental health, any kind of outcome,” Blackwell said.

Alcohol ads take up a portion of social media ad space, with one study finding nearly 40,000 ads placed on Facebook and Instagram over a year in Australia.

Most of those ads included an interaction like a “Buy Now” button that directly linked to a way to purchase, according to the Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education.

“There have been studies that show that even though it’s not ‘targeted,’ it’s a little bit dubious,” Nagata said, referring to the substance ads. “I do think it’s relatively common for teenagers to be exposed to alcohol-related advertising or substance-related advertising on social media.”

It starts at home

Both the American Psychological Association and American Academy of Pediatrics advocate for a balance of setting boundaries and guiding children about the best practices for social media use.

With all technology and social media-related conversations, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends having a family media plan in place.

It also developed an easy-to-understand approach to social media use guidance.

“The 5 C’s” of media use include: tailoring care based on the child, monitoring and learning what content your adolescent interacts with, providing other ways for your child to calm down besides using the phone, understanding how phone use could be crowding out family time, and starting to communicate with your child early.

“Don’t wait until there’s a problem,” Nagata said. “It’s important to be proactive if your child is going to be on social media.”

Healthy communication gives children more autonomy in decision-making surrounding phone use as well. Instead of restricting use without explanation, taking an interest and asking about children’s social media activity and discussing what type of content they’re looking at is more beneficial, Blackwell said.

Parents also need to mimic behaviors they want their children to follow. Decisions made for the children should be the same for other family members as well.

“If the parent is on social media all day and that’s interrupting their relationship with their child,” Blackwell said, “you can imagine that a child would model that behavior.”

Furthermore, Nagata and the American Academy of Pediatrics recommend looking for ways to take back time from phone use by introducing high-quality activities, such as family time or sports, that involve everyone. Doing so can prevent the fear of missing out that many adolescents feel when they aren’t glued to their phones and offer a substitute to take their minds off social media.

“This whole family approach, that incorporates the child, their opinions, their communication as well, is a really great strategy to get everyone on board,” Blackwell said.

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