Exposure to tobacco and betel nut content on social media, risk perceptions, and susceptibility to peer influence among early adolescents in Guam.

Introduction: This study aimed to examine the associations between exposure to tobacco and betel nut-related content on social media, perceived risks of tobacco and betel nut use, and susceptibility to peer influence for tobacco and betel nut use among adolescents living in Guam, a United States-Affiliated Pacific Island in the Western Pacific.

Methods: A representative survey of adolescents ( = 670) attending public middle schools on Guam was conducted. The survey measured exposure to tobacco and betel nut content on the following social media platforms: (a) Facebook, (b) Twitter, (c) Instagram, (d) Snapchat, and (e) WhatsApp.

Social media, peer norms, and betel nut susceptibility and use: Evidence from early adolescents in Guam.

Betel (areca) nut is an addictive psychoactive substance considered to be carcinogenic. Yet not much is known about factors that may be promoting betel nut use. To fill this void, the present study examines the roles of exposure to betel nut-related posts on social media and peer norms regarding betel nut use in explaining betel nut susceptibility and use among adolescents.

Social media's influence on e-cigarette use onset and escalation among young adults: What beliefs mediate the effects?

As an extension of a previous cross-sectional study, this study employed prospective data to test positive outcome expectancy beliefs as mediators of social media's influence on e-cigarette use progression among young adults. Self-report data were collected from 2327 young adult college students (Mean age = 21.2; SD = 2.

An Instagram-Based Study to Understand Betel Nut Use Culture in Micronesia: Exploratory Content Analysis.

Background: A 2012 World Health Organization report recognizes betel nut use as an urgent public health threat faced by the Western Pacific region. However, compared with other addictive substances, little is known about how betel nuts are depicted on social media platforms. In particular, image-based social media platforms can be powerful tools for health communication.

Tradition Gone Mobile: An Exploration of #Betelnut on Instagram.

As a psychoactive substance that spans borders and cultures, researchers estimate that 600 million people use the areca nut. Despite its historical and geographical significance, betel nut use has received far less research attention than other stimulants such as tobacco, coffee or tea. Scholars have observed that social media platforms have significant effects on the promotion and use of addictive substances.

Adolescent betel nut use in Guam: beliefs, attitudes and social norms.

Betel (areca) nut is an addictive substance chewed with or without tobacco widely in Asia and the Pacific, including the U.S.-affiliated Pacific Islands (USPI).

Adolescent Tobacco and Betel Nut Use in the US-Affiliated Pacific Islands: Evidence From Guam.

Purpose: To determine the prevalence of, and the risk and protective factors associated with, tobacco product use among adolescents in Guam, a US-Affiliated Pacific Island (USAPI) territory. To examine disparities in risk and protective factors across indigenous and nonindigenous groups.

Design: Quantitative; cross-sectional.