Development and validation of the alcohol-related content poster prototype scale: Exploring the impact of social media prototypes on college students' drinking

Joseph M. Razo, Robert E. Wickham, Ergie P. Inocian, Abigail R. Kra-Friedman, Mai Ly N. Steers

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

Background: Drinking is a public health concern among college students. Viewing and posting alcohol-related content (ARC) on social media may influence students' favorable prototypes of people who post, thereby impacting their drinking. This study created a measure to explore students' ARC poster prototypes. We validated our measure by examining the prototypes as mediators of the associations between viewing and posting ARC and drinking behaviors. Methods: Students (N = 8065) were asked to complete measures related to viewing and posting ARC, drinking behaviors, and adjectives that described their perceptions of the prototypical college student who posts ARC on social media. Results: Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis yielded three prototypical images of students who post ARC on social media: hedonistic, despondent, and sociable. There were significant pathways between viewing and posting ARC and drinking. The sociable prototype emerged as a significant mediator of the association between ARC viewing and posting and drinking. Conclusions: Understanding the role of students' poster prototypes may be important for informing targeted interventions. Our results indicate that the underlying reason for increased drinking among students with greater ARC engagement is that they perceived other ARC viewers and posters as being more sociable. Future research may focus on modifying these perceptions.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)796-805
Number of pages10
JournalAlcohol: Clinical and Experimental Research
Volume47
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 2023

Keywords

  • alcohol
  • college students
  • drinker prototypes
  • social networking sites

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Medicine (miscellaneous)
  • Psychiatry and Mental health
  • Toxicology
  • General Medicine

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Development and validation of the alcohol-related content poster prototype scale: Exploring the impact of social media prototypes on college students' drinking'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this