Facebook may raise risk of teen substance abuse

A New York research group released a study Wednesday claiming American teenagers who spend time on Facebook, Myspace or other social networking sites are five times more likely to use tobacco, three times more likely to drink alcohol and twice as likely to smoke marijuana.

But a San Francisco expert on juvenile justice debunked the study by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University because it did not account for other factors, such as age differences or whether their parents also smoked or drank excessively.

The Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse suggested 12- to 17-year-olds showed a higher likelihood of substance abuse when exposed to photos posted on social networks showing that kind of activity. The study also linked substance abuse to watching “suggestive” teen TV shows like “Jersey Shore,” “Teen Mom,” “16 and Pregnant,” “Skins” or “Gossip Girl.”

But the study was not set up to determine whether social networking causes substance abuse. “Human will – the individual’s decision to use illegal drugs, alcohol and tobacco – always comes into play,” said Steve Wagner of QEV Analytics, a Washington, D.C., research firm that conducted part of the study.

“But what is unmistakable from our research is that time spent on social networking sites is associated with a teen’s risk of substance abuse,” Wagner said. “Moreover, we know that teens who use such sites in a typical day are more likely to have been the victim of cyber-bullying and are more likely to have been exposed to photos of other teens getting drunk or high on drugs than are teens who do not use a social networking site in a typical day.”

The study claimed 70 percent of the teens spent time on a social network “in a typical day.” And 40 percent of all teens had seen photos on social networks of kids “drunk, passed out or using drugs.” Half of the teens saw those photos when they were age 13 or younger.

The center based its conclusions on concurrent surveys of a total of about 2,043 teenagers and 528 parents done in March, April and May. The teen surveys had a sampling error of plus or minus 3.1 percent.

Center chairman and founder Joseph Califano Jr. said in a news release that the study “offers grotesque confirmation of the adage that a picture is worth a thousand words.”

Califano, who was secretary of Health, Education and Welfare during the Carter administration, recommended parents monitor their teen’s use of Facebook and be “involved and engaged in their teen’s lives.”

“Parental engagement is a key factor to lowering teen substance abuse risk, as are frequent family dinners, religious services and consistent messages,” Califano said in an e-mail. “We know from 16 years of surveys and lots of other research that for better or worse parents have more influence over their teen’s risk of substance abuse than anyone else, and it is important for parents to send a consistent and unified message to their teens about drugs and alcohol.”

But Mike Males, a senior research fellow at the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice in San Francisco, questioned whether the research was “fatally flawed” because it appeared to improperly compare results of 12-year-olds against 17-year-olds.

Males said the center’s link of social media use to substance abuse was “silly and trivial.” He said the study did not account for some of the biggest environmental factors in drug and alcohol abuse among teens, especially the behavior of their parents.

“These studies are worse than useless,” he said. “They really hamper discussion of a very important social issue, which is drug and alcohol abuse throughout American society.”

In a statement, Palo Alto’s Facebook said the promotion of illegal drug use was prohibited by its terms of service and is removed when reported.

“Nothing is more important to us than the health and safety of the people who use our service, especially the many teens who use Facebook,” the company said. “We believe safety both online and off is a shared responsibility between teens, parents, teachers, companies, and other members of the community.”

E-mail Benny Evangelista at bevangelista@sfchronicle.com.

This article appeared on page D – 4 of the San Francisco Chronicle

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Facebook, Myspace Increase Teen Substance Abuse Risk

WASHINGTON – Substance abuse is a bigger problem for adolescents who daily spend time on social networking sites such as Facebook and Myspace, as 70% of American adolescents say they do, according to a survey released Aug. 24 by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University.

Of those adolescents, 26% reported drinking alcohol, 10% reported using tobacco, and 13% reported using marijuana. The numbers are much lower for adolescents who do not frequent these sites: 9% for alcohol, 2% for tobacco, and 7% for marijuana.

 

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In addition, adolescents who had seen photos on social networking sites of children and adolescents who were drunk, passed out, or using drugs had a greater likelihood of substance abuse and were more likely to have easy access to alcohol, marijuana, and prescription drugs without a prescription.

CASA Columbia randomly selected households and surveyed more than 2,000 adolescents aged 12-17 years – and about 500 of their parents – over the telephone and the Internet. CASA conducted this 16th annual national survey during March-May 2011, not to determine the percentage of teens who smoke, drink, and use drugs, but rather to identify factors that affect the likelihood of substance abuse.

“We’re not talking about causation here. We’re talking about association,” the center’s founder and chairman, Joseph A. Califano, Jr. said at a press conference in Washington announcing the results. “We think it would be an important healthy factor for these pictures not to be on social networking sites.”

The CASA report also included several findings about cyber bullying, which often occurs through social networking:

• Nineteen percent of adolescents said they had been the target of “mean or embarrassing” posts online;

• Twenty-five percent of girls have been “cyberbullied,” compared with 14% of boys;

• Adolescents who have been cyberbullied are more than twice as likely to have used tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana as are those who have not been cyberbullied, and they are almost twice as likely to say that they are likely to try drugs in the future.

The CASA survey results also showed that almost one-third of adolescents watch “suggestive teen programming,” such as “Gossip Girl,” or “16 and Pregnant,” or “Skins,” and they were twice as likely to have used tobacco and almost twice as likely to have used alcohol as were teens who did not watch these shows. Easier access to these substances also was associated with watching these shows.

Dr. John R. Knight, a pediatrician who directs the Center for Adolescent Substance Abuse Research at Children’s Hospital Boston, said in an interview that he was not surprised by the survey results. “The only thing that’s surprising to me is that the media companies haven’t done anything about it,” he said.

On MTV’s “Jersey Shore,” a reality show mentioned in the survey, young adults regularly consume excessive amounts of alcohol. Dr. Knight said he turned on the show one time and was “appalled.”

Multiple studies have confirmed that the likelihood of substance abuse by teenagers increases when they are exposed to mass media that show tobacco, alcohol, and illegal drugs in a positive or glamorous light. And in the 1990s, the medical community fought to oust the cartoon character Joe Camel from cigarette advertisements, because it appeared to target children.

But online social networking is a relatively new phenomenon – and one that has helped teens overcome addictions by connecting them with online support groups.

“Social networking is a two-edged sword,” said Dr. Knight, who was not affiliated with the CASA report. “It can be destructive, but it also helps young people in recovery from substance abuse.”

Of parents surveyed, 89% did not think social networking sites increased the likelihood of drug use for teens, and 87% thought the same about alcohol.

Lisa J. Merlo, Ph.D., a clinical psychologist with expertise in this area, said in an interview that it is important to ask adolescents about the amount of time they spend on social networking sites. Dr. Merlo of the University of Florida, Gainesville, who was not affiliated with the CASA report, also advised talking to parents about the importance of monitoring teens’ online activity – which 64% of parents in the survey said they do.

The report noted that teens who eat dinner with their families five to seven times a week do not have as high a risk for substance abuse as do those teens who have infrequent family dinners.

Mr. Califano reprimanded social networking sites for allowing the display of pictures of children and teens drunk, passed out, or using drugs. “We think it would be an important healthy factor for these pictures not to be on social networking sites. … Continuing to provide the electronic vehicle for transmitting such images constitutes electronic child abuse,” he said in a statement accompanying the survey report.

Advances in neuroscience and longitudinal studies show that exposure to alcohol, tobacco, and drugs at a young age leads to greater chances for permanent neurotoxic damage and psychological disorders later in life, Dr. Knight said.

“The data are shouting at us,” he said. “We must protect these young people.”

Knowledge Networks administered the Internet component of the survey, which 546 male teens and 491 female teens, along with 528 of their parents, completed. QEV Analytics conducted the telephone component, which 478 male teens and 528 female teens completed. CASA required parental or guardian consent for interviewing the adolescents, which was refused in 13.6% of eligible households.

Both components of the survey asked teens whether anyone could see or overhear their responses, but this did not appear to have an inhibiting impact on their answers. The findings note that confidentiality agreements, self-reporting, and the parental permission requirement might contribute to underreporting of substance abuse.

 

 

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