The Effects of Alcohol-Related Social Media Content on Adolescents' Momentary Perceived Norms, Attitudes, and Drinking Intentions.

Research has shown that exposure to alcohol posts on social media can shape adolescents' alcohol-related normative perceptions and attitudes, which in turn play a role in their drinking intentions. However, these studies focused on content in general, neglecting the variety of alcohol posts on social media. Furthermore, they were mostly cross-sectional and studied behaviors at one-time point, thus not considering within-person/daily (co-)fluctuations in exposure to alcohol posts and drinking cognitions.

I spy with my little eye: An eye-tracking study examining adolescents' attention to alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages in Instagram stories.

Social media users are frequently exposed to alcohol images on Instagram, which in turn influences their own alcohol behaviors. Yet, it is unclear what factors drive attention to alcohol cues. In an eye-tracking study (N = 108; M = 16.

Drinking Buddies: The Importance of Proximal Norms in Emerging Adults' Alcohol-Related Private and Public Social Media Use.

Exposure to alcohol posts on social media has been found to be associated with emerging adults' alcohol use. An important mechanism through which this association seems to occur are social norms. Thus far, however, research has not differentiated between proximal and distal norms and has not accounted for the private (e.

Mothers Matter: Using Regression Tree Algorithms to Predict Adolescents' Sharing of Drunk References on Social Media.

Exposure to online drinking on social media is associated with real-life alcohol consumption. Building on the Theory of planned behavior, the current study substantially adds to this line of research by identifying the predictors of sharing drunk references on social media. Based on a cross-sectional survey among 1639 adolescents with a mean age of 15 (59% female), this study compares and discusses multiple regression tree algorithms predicting the sharing of drunk references.

Stay Home, Drink at Home? A Daily Diary Study on College Students' Alcohol and Social Media Use during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Background: COVID-19 and measures to contain it may have impacted college students' behavior, including their drinking behavior. Students' drinking may have decreased-for example, due to the closure of bars-but problematic drinking may have increased-for example, due to (solitary) drinking at home. Another behavior that has increased due to COVID-19 and the accompanying social isolation is students' social networking site (SNS) use.

Perceptions surpass reality: Self-reported alcohol-related communication on Instagram is more strongly related with frequency of alcohol consumption and binge drinking than actual alcohol-related communication.

Mounting research finds that sharing alcohol references on social media is related to higher levels of alcohol consumption. The present study aims to improve our understanding of potential biases when using self-report measures, to provide more insight in the differences between background and foreground alcohol references, and to examine different drinking patterns. We examined the Instagram profiles of 128 Belgian college students (M = 21.

Self-Reported versus Actual Alcohol-Related Communication on Instagram: Exploring the Gap.

Numerous studies have highlighted the relation between drinking behavior and alcohol references on social media. However, most studies on substance-use-related social media effects rely on self-report data, and it remains unclear whether individuals can accurately report their online alcohol-related communication. This study contributes to this line of research by examining whether individuals accurately report their alcohol-related self-sharing behavior on social media and what factors contribute to a misestimation of this behavior.

I See, Therefore I am: Exposure to Alcohol References on Social Media, but Not on Traditional Media, Is Related to Alcohol Consumption via Drinking and Non-Drinking Identity.

In recent years, the role of media in individuals' alcohol consumption has been touched upon by several researchers. Nevertheless, the underlying processes explaining the relationship between media use and alcohol consumption, as well as the differences in strength of the associations between social and traditional media use and alcohol consumption remain understudied. The present exploratory cross-sectional study (N = 381) among emerging adults (M = 21.

#Coronavirus: Monitoring the Belgian Twitter Discourse on the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Pandemic.

In this study, a social media analysis is conducted to examine the public discourse about the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic on Twitter. In particular, this study aims to examine (a) how the number of tweets varies as a function of the timeline of the pandemic and associated measures and (b) how the content of these tweets, including displayed emotions, changes. Therefore, 373,908 tweets and retweets from Belgium were collected from February 25, 2020 to the March 30.

Disposition-Content Congruency in Adolescents' Alcohol-Related Social Media (Self-) Effects: The Role of the Five-Factor Model.

Objective: Accumulating evidence indicates that social networking sites play an increasingly important role in young people's drinking behavior. The present study adds to this research by assessing the conditionality of the relationships between exposure to and self-sharing of alcohol-related content on social media and adolescents' drinking behavior. Specifically, the moderating role of the five-factor model of personality is determined.

Feasibility and impact study of a reward-based mobile application to improve adolescents' snacking habits.

Objective: Adolescents' snacking habits are driven by both explicit reflective and implicit hedonic processes. Hedonic pathways and differences in sensitivity to food rewards in addition to reflective determinants should be considered. The present study evaluated the feasibility and impact of a mobile phone-delivered intervention, incorporating explicit reflective and implicit rewarding strategies, on adolescents' snack intake.

Use of Fitness and Nutrition Apps: Associations With Body Mass Index, Snacking, and Drinking Habits in Adolescents.

Background: Efforts to improve snacking and drinking habits are needed to promote a healthy body mass index (BMI) in adolescents. Although commercial fitness and nutrition mobile phone apps are widely used, little is known regarding their potential to improve health behaviors, especially in adolescents. In addition, evidence on the mechanisms through which such fitness and nutrition apps influence behavior is lacking.

Adding a reward increases the reinforcing value of fruit.

Adolescents' snack choices could be altered by increasing the reinforcing value (RV) of healthy snacks compared with unhealthy snacks. This study assessed whether the RV of fruit increased by linking it to a reward and if this increased RV was comparable with the RV of unhealthy snacks alone. Moderation effects of sex, hunger, BMI z-scores and sensitivity to reward were also explored.

Strategic Self-Presentation or Authentic Communication? Predicting Adolescents' Alcohol References on Social Media.

Objective: The current study is one of the first to examine how self-reported alcohol consumption, friends' perceived alcohol consumption, and the perceived number of friends sharing alcohol references on social networking sites (SNS) is associated with adolescents' sharing of alcohol references on SNS.

Method: A cross-sectional paper-and-pencil survey was administered among 3,172 adolescents (n = 3,133 used for analyses, mean age = 17.16 years, SD = 0.

Stem cell research: the role of information seeking and scanning.

Background: The mass media have held an ongoing debate about stem cell research. However, few studies have investigated how individuals obtain information on stem cell research and whether this affects their knowledge and perspectives on stem cell research.

Objective: This study aims to investigate whether (i) cancer-diagnosed and non-diagnosed individuals differ in terms of their acquisition of stem cell research information, (ii) whether this information acquisition is associated with stem cell research knowledge and perspectives and (iii) whether having had a cancer diagnosis moderates these associations.

Cancer-Diagnosed Individuals' Use of Television and the Internet as a Source for Peer Stories and Associated Emotional Responses.

When people are confronted with a potentially life-threatening disease such as cancer, they are likely to feel an urgent need for information about the disease and support from peers. Studies have shown that the mass media contain a lot of experiential information (i.e.

Sensitivity to reward and adolescents' unhealthy snacking and drinking behavior: the role of hedonic eating styles and availability.

Background: Although previous research found a positive association between sensitivity to reward (SR) and adolescents' unhealthy snacking and drinking behavior, mechanisms explaining these associations remain to be explored. The present study will therefore examine whether the associations between SR and unhealthy snack and/or sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) intake are mediated by external and/or emotional eating and if this mediation is moderated by availability at home or at school.

Methods: Cross-sectional data on snacking, availability of snacks at home and at school, SR (BAS drive scale) and external and emotional eating (Dutch eating behavior questionnaire) of Flemish adolescents (n = 1104, mean age = 14.

Sensitivity to reward is associated with snack and sugar-sweetened beverage consumption in adolescents.

Purpose: High intake of palatable foods, such as energy-dense snacks and sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs), is common among adolescents. An individual's sensitivity to reward (SR) may influence these intakes. The main objective of this study was to investigate the association between SR and both snack and SSB intake among adolescents.

Fear of cancer is associated with cancer information seeking, scanning and avoiding: a cross-sectional study among cancer diagnosed and non-diagnosed individuals.

Background: Nowadays, there is an abundance of health and cancer information in the mass media. Because of this high amount of information, it is possible for individuals to find or incidentally encounter cancer information, but it is also possible to be overloaded by this information and, consequently, to avoid it. Previous studies have indicated that fear of cancer could be both positively and negatively related to behaviours such as screening, help-seeking and information avoidance.

Media use, cancer knowledge and lifestyle choices: a cross-sectional analysis.

Background: Both media use and cancer knowledge have been identified as important predictors of a healthy lifestyle. However, little is known about the interplay between these two variables, and about differences between cancer diagnosed and non-diagnosed consumers of media and knowledge. This study investigated the relationship between media use (television and internet exposure) and lifestyle choices of cancer diagnosed and non-diagnosed individuals, and looked at the influence of cancer knowledge on this relationship.

Predictors of cancer fear: the association between mass media and fear of cancer among cancer diagnosed and nondiagnosed individuals.

Few studies have explored the impact of mass media on fear of cancer levels. This study investigates whether television and Internet use are associated with fear of cancer, and whether this association is different for cancer diagnosed and nondiagnosed individuals. A quantitative, standardized survey was used and administered to 2008 respondents in Flanders (Belgium), of which 621 individuals were diagnosed with cancer.

The swine flu emergency department: the relationship between media attention for the swine flu and registrations in an emergency medicine unit.

Introduction: When the world is faced with a new potential pandemic outbreak, the media report heavily about it. Media are an important disseminator of health threat information. This study examined potential media effects during the 2009 outbreak of A/H1N1 influenza.

Display of alcohol use on Facebook: a content analysis.

The present study has two main objectives. First, to examine how alcohol use is portrayed in the visual and textual references on Facebook, and second, to determine how friends react to these alcohol-related postings. A theoretically based content analysis of 160 Facebook profiles generated 2,575 pictures and 92 status updates referring to alcohol use, which represented about 6.

Music video viewing as a marker of driving after the consumption of alcohol.

This study has two main objectives. First, it is examined whether the frequent exposure to music video viewing is associated with driving after the consumption of alcohol. Second, it is examined which theoretical framework, a combination of Cultivation Theory and the Theory of Planned Behavior or the Problem Behavior Theory, is suited best to explain this relationship.

Excellent gamer, excellent driver? The impact of adolescents' video game playing on driving behavior: a two-wave panel study.

This study explored the impact of adolescents' playing of racing and drive'em up games on their risky driving behavior. Participants were 354 adolescent boys and girls who took part in a longitudinal panel survey on video game playing and risk taking attitudes, intentions and behaviors. In line with cultivation theory and theory of planned behavior the results showed that (even after controlling for aggression and sensation seeking) video game playing during adolescence succeeded in predicting later risky driving behavior through adolescents' attitudes and intentions to exhibit this behavior in the future.