Drinking and social media use during the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions: A five-wave longitudinal study among workers in Finland (Preprint)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Atte Oksanen ◽  
Reetta Oksa ◽  
Nina Savela ◽  
Magdalena Celuch ◽  
Iina Savolainen
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Alcohol Consumption ◽  
Media Use ◽  
Online Dating ◽  
University Education ◽  
Survey Study ◽  
Outcome Variable ◽  
Big Five Personality ◽  
Social Media Use ◽  
Over Time

BACKGROUND The COVID-19 pandemic has restricted everyday life during 2020–2021. This has impacted alcohol consumption patterns and leisure activities, including the use of social media. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to analyze whether social media use predicts increased drinking over time and during the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions. METHODS This longitudinal five-wave survey study was conducted in 2019–2021 in Finland and based on a nationwide sample of workers. 840 respondents (56.31% male, aged 18–64, M = 43.90, SD = 11.14) took part in all 5 waves of the study. The outcome variable was drinking, measured with AUDIT-C. Multilevel linear hybrid modelling enabled the investigation of both within-person and between-person effects. Predictors included social media use and communication, involvement in social media identity bubbles, psychological distress, and remote working. Controls included sociodemographic factors and the Big Five personality traits. RESULTS Drinking decreased during COVID-19 pandemic restrictions. Increased involvement in social media identity bubbles was associated with an increase in drinking. Out of social media apps, online dating app use was associated with higher use of alcohol over time during the COVID-19 crisis. Unofficial social media communication at work was associated with higher alcohol use. Female gender, younger age, university education, non-industrial occupational field, conscientiousness, agreeableness, and neuroticism were associated with lower levels of drinking. CONCLUSIONS Social media use under pandemic conditions carries some risks for alcohol consumption. Involvement in social media bubbles and online dating are risk factors for drinking during COVID-19.

scholarly journals Covid-19, the perfect time to broaden our horizons about social media use in oncology? A survey study with healthcare professionals caring for youth with cancer

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Rost ◽  
Vittoria Espeli ◽  
Marc Ansari ◽  
Nicholas von der Weid ◽  
Bernice Elger ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Healthcare Professionals ◽  
Media Use ◽  
Healthcare Providers ◽  
Young Patients ◽  
Adolescent And Young Adult ◽  
Survey Study ◽  
Ethical Guidelines ◽  
Social Media Use ◽  
Health Crisis

Abstract Purpose The study aims to explore the attitudes of Swiss healthcare professionals towards the use of social media in adolescent and young adult oncology and to examine whether the ongoing social restrictions due COVID-19 might have altered these attitudes. Methods This study was cross-sectional in design. The subjects were healthcare providers working in pediatric or adult oncology settings in Switzerland. We performed descriptive and inferential statistical analyses. Results While considered useful, only a small minority of participants actually used social media for professional reasons and considered themselves skillful in using these platforms. Although institutional guidelines were deemed crucial to improve social media use, many respondents seemed unaware of their existence. Only a minority reported an impact of Covid-19 on their attitudes towards the professional implementation of social media. Conclusion The global health crisis creates important challenges for young patients with cancer and their healthcare providers. In times of social restrictions, social media may be promising tools to facilitate health information provision, connectivity and patient care. Virtual mentorship and target social media training interventions might be the best way to improve familiarity with social media and with ethical guidelines for their use.

scholarly journals Social Media Use and Support for Populist Radical Right Parties: Assessing Exposure and Selection Effects in a Two-wave Panel Study

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandy Schumann ◽  
Diana Boer ◽  
Katja Hanke ◽  
James H Liu
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Media Use ◽  
Panel Study ◽  
Selection Effect ◽  
Radical Right ◽  
Survey Study ◽  
Selection Effects ◽  
Social Media Use ◽  
Populist Radical Right ◽  
Radical Right Parties

Vote shares for populist radical right parties (PRRPs) have increased considerably in recent years, and this advancement of PRRPs has been attributed in part to social media. We assess the affinity between social media and populist radical right parties by examining whether more frequent social media use for news enhances the willingness to vote for a PRRP (exposure effect) as well as whether individuals who have voted for a PRRP in the past use social media more frequently to access news (selection effect). To address these research questions, we analysed data of a two-wave survey study that was conducted in Germany, focusing on the party Alternative for Germany (AfD). Binary logistic regression highlighted that social media use increased the likelihood of supporting the AfD. Pre-registered multinominal analyses, however, showed that this effect was driven by specific party comparisons. That is, using the AfD as a reference category, social media use reduced intentions to vote for parties that expressed similar positions as the AfD on the issue of immigration and with which the PRRP competes over votes. Social media selection effects were not supported.

scholarly journals Fear of Missing Out as a Predictor of Problematic Social Media Use and Phubbing Behavior among Flemish Adolescents

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (10) ◽  
pp. 2319 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vittoria Franchina ◽  
Mariek Vanden Abeele ◽  
Antonius van Rooij ◽  
Gianluca Lo Coco ◽  
Lieven De Marez
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Media Use ◽  
Survey Study ◽  
Social Media Use ◽  
Fear Of Missing Out ◽  
Social Media Platforms ◽  
Large Scale Survey ◽  
Problematic Social Media Use ◽  
Use Of Social Media

Fear-of-missing-out (FOMO) refers to feelings of anxiety that arise from the realization that you may be missing out on rewarding experiences that others are having. FOMO can be identified as an intra-personal trait that drives people to stay up to date of what other people are doing, among others on social media platforms. Drawing from the findings of a large-scale survey study among 2663 Flemish teenagers, this study explores the relationships between FOMO, social media use, problematic social media use (PSMU) and phubbing behavior. In line with our expectations, FOMO was a positive predictor of both how frequently teenagers use several social media platforms and of how many platforms they actively use. FOMO was a stronger predictor of the use of social media platforms that are more private (e.g., Facebook, Snapchat) than platforms that are more public in nature (e.g., Twitter, Youtube). FOMO predicted phubbing behavior both directly and indirectly via its relationship with PSMU. These findings support extant research that points towards FOMO as a factor explaining teenagers’ social media use.

scholarly journals 140 Characters of Intoxication: Exploring the Prevalence of Alcohol-Related Tweets and Predicting Their Virality

SAGE Open ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 215824401880313 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saleem Alhabash ◽  
Courtland VanDam ◽  
Pang-Ning Tan ◽  
Sandi W. Smith ◽  
Gregory Viken ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Alcohol Consumption ◽  
Media Use ◽  
Past Research ◽  
The United States ◽  
Excessive Drinking ◽  
User Characteristics ◽  
Social Media Use ◽  
Media Platform ◽  
Widespread Phenomenon

Past research has suggested an associative relationship between social media use and alcohol consumption, especially among the younger generations. The current study takes a generalizable approach to examining the prevalence of posting about alcohol on a popular social media platform, Twitter, as well as examining the predictors of a tweet’s virality. We content-analyzed more than 47.5 million tweets that were posted in March 2015 to explore the prevalence of alcohol-related references, and how alcohol-related references, tweet features (e.g., inclusion of hashtags, pictures, etc.), and user characteristics (e.g., number of followers) contribute to the tweet’s virality. Our findings showed that during March 2015, about two of every 100 tweets in the United States were alcohol-related; whereas the majority of those referenced intoxication. In addition to tweet features and user characteristics, the prevalence of alcohol-related references in a tweet positively predicted the number of likes it received, yet negatively predicted the number of retweets. Given prior evidence supporting the association between social media use and alcohol consumption, the prevalence of alcohol references in tweets and how that contributes to their virality offers insights into the widespread phenomenon of glorifying alcohol use and excessive drinking via social media, pointing to potential negative health consequences.

scholarly journals Evaluation of Social Media Use Disorder in Medical Faculty Students

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (Supplement_4) ◽  
Author(s):  
H Aygar ◽  
A Unsal ◽  
D Arslantas ◽  
B Isıktekin Atalay ◽  
C Cam ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Media Use ◽  
Short Form ◽  
University Education ◽  
Family Type ◽  
Study Group ◽  
Social Media Use ◽  
Grade Point ◽  
Media Usage ◽  
Income Status

Abstract Background Recently, social media usage disorder has become a behavioral addiction with the internet which has entered our daily life rapidly. One of the important factors considered to be associated with social media use disorder is thought to be loneliness. The aim of the study was to evaluate the social media use disorder in medical school students. Methods This study is a cross-sectional study conducted on the students who were studying in Eskisehir Osmangazi University Faculty of Medicine between January 2 and February 28, 2019. The study group consisted of 422 internet user students. The level of social media usage was assessed by Social Media Disorder Scale (SMD-scale). The level of loneliness was evaluated with the short-form of the UCLA Loneliness Scale (ULS-8). Mann Whitney U, Kruskal Wallis, Spearman correlation analysis were used. Results Of the participants 226 (53.6%) was male. The age of the study group ranged from 17 to 29 years and the mean (SD) was 19.78 (1.33) years. The scores obtained from SMD-scale ranged from 0 to 63, with a mean of 12.18±10.35 (median = 9.0). All students had at least one social media account. In the study, no difference was found between the scores obtained from gender, age group, father’s education status, family income status and family type. While the scores of the students whose mothers have a university education level are lower; those who spent more than 2 hours a day on social media had a higher score. There was a weak positive correlation between the scores obtained from SMD-scale and ULS-8 (p < 0.001, r = 0.215). There was a weak negative correlation between the scores obtained from the SMD-scale and the academic grade point average (p = 0.012, r = -0.123). Conclusions It is concluded that the correct use of social media can be increased by informing about this issue. Increasing platforms such as student clubs in which individuals could socialize in real life may be useful in reducing this disorder. Key messages Public health studies could help prevent social media use disorder transform into more serious health problem in future. Further studies are needed to determine the effects of social media use disorders on mental and physical health.

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