Young adult retail purchases of cannabis, product category preferences and sales trends in California 2018-21: Differences compared with older adults.

Aims: The aim of this study is to identify cannabis products according to their appeal among young adults and measure product sales trends.

Design, Setting And Participants: This was a retrospective comparative study using point-of-sale data from licensed recreational cannabis retailers that include buyer age with birth year entered by retailers, set in California, USA. Cannabis purchases by young adults (aged 21-24, GenZ) were compared with older adults (age 25+) over 4 years (2018-21).

Buddies as In-Group Influencers in Online Support Groups: A Social Network Analysis of Processes and Outcomes.

Buddies, serving as in-group influencers to aid demographically similar cobuddies, are extensively used in face-to-face support groups to enhance positive social influence. The authors examine the efficacy of buddies in online support groups and investigate underlying mediating processes using social network analysis. They observe what happens when members of support groups for quitting smoking, including members who are relatively active and less active in the group, after a few days are called on to be buddies and assigned to specific cobuddies.

Perceived Costs versus Actual Benefits of Demographic Self-Disclosure in Online Support Groups.

Millions of U.S. adults join online support groups to attain health goals, but the social ties they form are often too weak to provide the support they need.

Application of Automated Text Analysis to Examine Emotions Expressed in Online Support Groups for Quitting Smoking.

Online support groups offer social support and an outlet for expressing emotions when dealing with health-related challenges. This study examines whether automated text analysis of emotional expressions using Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) can identify emotions related to abstinence expressed in online support groups for quitting smoking, suggesting promise for offering targeted mood management to members. The emotional expressions in 1 month of posts by members of 36 online support groups were related to abstinence at month end.