Journal of Adolescent Health 54 (2014) 497e498
www.jahonline.org Editorial
A New Window Into Adolescents’ Worlds: The Impact of Online Social Interaction on Risk Behavior
The more things change, the more they stay the same. Technological advances, such as online social interactions, have extended both the form and the frequency of contact among adolescent friends, and interest in the potential social influence of online interactions is growing [1,2]. Given the ubiquitous nature of youths’ online interaction, it is critical that we examine how online communication influences health behaviors, and how this communication channel can be used to promote wellness and well-being. In the study of Huang et al. [3] in this issue of the Journal of Adolescent Health, adolescent respondents’ face-to-face friendships were extended to online social interactions. Neither the frequent use of social network sites (SNSs) nor the number of friends on SNSs was related to risk. However, some types of online social interaction, specifically posting photos of “partying” and drinking alcohol, were associated with risk behavior. Presumably, the online postings served to alter perceived norms about these behaviors. Youth were more likely to use alcohol over time if they had reported in a survey that their friends did not use alcohol but also posted pictures of themselves “partying” online. The effect of online postings was over and above that of other social influences. These findings suggest that online social interactions make a unique contribution to social influences on adolescent behavior. Friendship norms are key to understanding the similarities in friends’ behavior and the implicit pressures that youth experience to act in particular ways [4e6]. Social influences are complex and shaped, in part, by opportunities for interaction. When youth interact in multiple domains, they have more than one “window” through which to view friends. And, observations made through those windows shape perceptions of what is normative. Friends’ behavior may differ across domains, as in the present study, when friends reportedly did not drink but posted photos of themselves “partying” online. Thus, the study raises an intriguing hypothesis: online photographs are more powerful than friends’ reported behavior in shaping norms, because photographs are seen as representing the “normative truth.” Research addressing online friendships faces a number of methodological challenges. Studies should (1) strive to create consistency in measurement to ensure that behavioral reports
and assessments of exposure to online peer pressure (i.e., postings) capture the same time frame; (2) assess other online social interactions that are popular with youth (e.g., Twitter and Instagram); (3) obtain data on both perceptions of friends’ behavior and actual behavior of friends; and (4) begin to assess the properties of norms [5]. Furthermore, we are challenged by the discrepancy between the measured pace that characterizes progress in behavioral research and the rapid pace of change that characterizes the technological tools that we aim to understand and harness for positive health promotion [7,8]. For example, researchers must keep pace with youths’ fleeting loyalty to specific SNS that results in dramatic changes in their SNS use patterns [3]. And we must also stay current with new online social interactions that are more difficult to capture (such as Snapchat) and technological advances that alter intervention delivery [9]. Online formats pose opportunities for health promotion addressing a variety of health issues [10,11]. Because youth generally engage with SNSs to connect socially, they may not immediately respond to health promotion efforts that utilize these sites [12]. Youth may be more responsive to online interventions that build on existing friendship networks and social norms. We might develop such interventions by modifying friendship-based intervention approaches that seek to reduce risk behavior by influencing reference group norms [13,14]. And, as online health interventions proliferate, future research must address the translation of programs to real-life settings [10,15]. Online social interactions open a window into aspects of people’s private lives that they might not ordinarily share with friends. Consequently, this new domain of social influence adds to a large body of research addressing the role of friendships in shaping adolescent norms and behavior [4,16,17]. M. Margaret Dolcini, Ph.D. Hallie E. Ford Center for Healthy Children and Families School of Social and Behavioral Health Sciences College of Public Health and Human Sciences Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon
See Related Article p. 508
1054-139X/$ e see front matter Ó 2014 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2014.02.013
498
Editorial / Journal of Adolescent Health 54 (2014) 497e498
References [1] Lenhart A. (2012). Teens, smartphones & texting. Pew Internet & American Life Project. Available at: http://www.pewinternet.org/w/media/Files/ Reports/2012/PIP_Teens_Smartphones_and_Texting.pdf. Accessed December 16, 2013. [2] Moreno MA, Briner LR, Williams A, et al. A content analysis of displayed alcohol references on a social networking web site. J Adolesc Health 2010; 47:168e75. [3] Huang GC, Unger JB, Soto D, et al. Peer influences: The impact of online and offline friendship networks on adolescent smoking and alcohol use. J Adolesc Health 2014;54:508e14. [4] Brown BB, Bakken JP, Ameringer SW, et al. A comprehensive conceptualization of the peer influence process in adolescence. In: Prinstein MJ, Dodge KA, eds. Understanding peer influence processes in adolescence. New York, NY: Guilford; 2008. pp. 17e44. [5] Dolcini MM, Catania JA, Harper GW, et al. Norms governing urban African American adolescents’ sexual and substance-using behavior. J Adolesc 2013; 36:31e43. [6] Dolcini MM, Harper GW, Watson S, et al. Friends in the ’hood: Should peerbased health promotion programs target nonschool friendship networks? J Adolesc Health 2005;36:267. [7] Bull S, Cobb NK, Fowler J, et al. Health behavior research and practice via social media and social networks. Keynote Panel at the meeting of the Society of Behavioral Medicine Annual Conference; 2013. San Francisco, CA.
[8] Mitchell KJ, Ybarra M. Social networking sites: Finding a balance between their risks and benefits. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med 2009;163:87. [9] Bull S. Technology-based health promotion. Denver, Colorado: University of Colorado; 2011. [10] Levine D. Using technology, new media, and mobile for sexual and reproductive health. Sex Res Social Policy 2011;8:18e26. [11] Moreno MA, Parks MR, Zimmerman FJ, et al. Display of health risk behaviors on Myspace by adolescents: Prevalence and associations. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med 2009;163:27. [12] Ralph LJ, Berglas NF, Schwartz SL, et al. Finding teens in their space: Using social network sites to connect youth to sexual health services. Sex Res Social Policy 2011;8:38e49. [13] Dolcini MM, Harper GW, Boyer CB, et al. Project ORE: A friendship-based intervention to prevent HIV/STI in urban African American adolescent females. Health Educ Behav 2010;37:115e32. [14] Stanton BF, Li X, Ricardo I, et al. A randomized, controlled effectiveness trial of an AIDS prevention program for low-income African-American youths. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med 1996;150:363. [15] Glasgow RE, Vinson C, Chambers D, et al. National Institutes of Health approaches to dissemination and implementation science: Current and future directions. Am J Public Health 2012;102:1274e81. [16] Kandel DB. Homophily, selection, and socialization in adolescent friendships. Am J Sociol 1978;84:427e36. [17] Cruz JE, Emery RE, Turkheimer E. Peer network drinking predicts increased alcohol use from adolescence to early adulthood after controlling for genetic and shared environmental selection. Dev Psychol 2012;48:1390e402.
www.jahonline.org Editorial
A New Window Into Adolescents’ Worlds: The Impact of Online Social Interaction on Risk Behavior
The more things change, the more they stay the same. Technological advances, such as online social interactions, have extended both the form and the frequency of contact among adolescent friends, and interest in the potential social influence of online interactions is growing [1,2]. Given the ubiquitous nature of youths’ online interaction, it is critical that we examine how online communication influences health behaviors, and how this communication channel can be used to promote wellness and well-being. In the study of Huang et al. [3] in this issue of the Journal of Adolescent Health, adolescent respondents’ face-to-face friendships were extended to online social interactions. Neither the frequent use of social network sites (SNSs) nor the number of friends on SNSs was related to risk. However, some types of online social interaction, specifically posting photos of “partying” and drinking alcohol, were associated with risk behavior. Presumably, the online postings served to alter perceived norms about these behaviors. Youth were more likely to use alcohol over time if they had reported in a survey that their friends did not use alcohol but also posted pictures of themselves “partying” online. The effect of online postings was over and above that of other social influences. These findings suggest that online social interactions make a unique contribution to social influences on adolescent behavior. Friendship norms are key to understanding the similarities in friends’ behavior and the implicit pressures that youth experience to act in particular ways [4e6]. Social influences are complex and shaped, in part, by opportunities for interaction. When youth interact in multiple domains, they have more than one “window” through which to view friends. And, observations made through those windows shape perceptions of what is normative. Friends’ behavior may differ across domains, as in the present study, when friends reportedly did not drink but posted photos of themselves “partying” online. Thus, the study raises an intriguing hypothesis: online photographs are more powerful than friends’ reported behavior in shaping norms, because photographs are seen as representing the “normative truth.” Research addressing online friendships faces a number of methodological challenges. Studies should (1) strive to create consistency in measurement to ensure that behavioral reports
and assessments of exposure to online peer pressure (i.e., postings) capture the same time frame; (2) assess other online social interactions that are popular with youth (e.g., Twitter and Instagram); (3) obtain data on both perceptions of friends’ behavior and actual behavior of friends; and (4) begin to assess the properties of norms [5]. Furthermore, we are challenged by the discrepancy between the measured pace that characterizes progress in behavioral research and the rapid pace of change that characterizes the technological tools that we aim to understand and harness for positive health promotion [7,8]. For example, researchers must keep pace with youths’ fleeting loyalty to specific SNS that results in dramatic changes in their SNS use patterns [3]. And we must also stay current with new online social interactions that are more difficult to capture (such as Snapchat) and technological advances that alter intervention delivery [9]. Online formats pose opportunities for health promotion addressing a variety of health issues [10,11]. Because youth generally engage with SNSs to connect socially, they may not immediately respond to health promotion efforts that utilize these sites [12]. Youth may be more responsive to online interventions that build on existing friendship networks and social norms. We might develop such interventions by modifying friendship-based intervention approaches that seek to reduce risk behavior by influencing reference group norms [13,14]. And, as online health interventions proliferate, future research must address the translation of programs to real-life settings [10,15]. Online social interactions open a window into aspects of people’s private lives that they might not ordinarily share with friends. Consequently, this new domain of social influence adds to a large body of research addressing the role of friendships in shaping adolescent norms and behavior [4,16,17]. M. Margaret Dolcini, Ph.D. Hallie E. Ford Center for Healthy Children and Families School of Social and Behavioral Health Sciences College of Public Health and Human Sciences Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon
See Related Article p. 508
1054-139X/$ e see front matter Ó 2014 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2014.02.013
498
Editorial / Journal of Adolescent Health 54 (2014) 497e498
References [1] Lenhart A. (2012). Teens, smartphones & texting. Pew Internet & American Life Project. Available at: http://www.pewinternet.org/w/media/Files/ Reports/2012/PIP_Teens_Smartphones_and_Texting.pdf. Accessed December 16, 2013. [2] Moreno MA, Briner LR, Williams A, et al. A content analysis of displayed alcohol references on a social networking web site. J Adolesc Health 2010; 47:168e75. [3] Huang GC, Unger JB, Soto D, et al. Peer influences: The impact of online and offline friendship networks on adolescent smoking and alcohol use. J Adolesc Health 2014;54:508e14. [4] Brown BB, Bakken JP, Ameringer SW, et al. A comprehensive conceptualization of the peer influence process in adolescence. In: Prinstein MJ, Dodge KA, eds. Understanding peer influence processes in adolescence. New York, NY: Guilford; 2008. pp. 17e44. [5] Dolcini MM, Catania JA, Harper GW, et al. Norms governing urban African American adolescents’ sexual and substance-using behavior. J Adolesc 2013; 36:31e43. [6] Dolcini MM, Harper GW, Watson S, et al. Friends in the ’hood: Should peerbased health promotion programs target nonschool friendship networks? J Adolesc Health 2005;36:267. [7] Bull S, Cobb NK, Fowler J, et al. Health behavior research and practice via social media and social networks. Keynote Panel at the meeting of the Society of Behavioral Medicine Annual Conference; 2013. San Francisco, CA.
[8] Mitchell KJ, Ybarra M. Social networking sites: Finding a balance between their risks and benefits. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med 2009;163:87. [9] Bull S. Technology-based health promotion. Denver, Colorado: University of Colorado; 2011. [10] Levine D. Using technology, new media, and mobile for sexual and reproductive health. Sex Res Social Policy 2011;8:18e26. [11] Moreno MA, Parks MR, Zimmerman FJ, et al. Display of health risk behaviors on Myspace by adolescents: Prevalence and associations. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med 2009;163:27. [12] Ralph LJ, Berglas NF, Schwartz SL, et al. Finding teens in their space: Using social network sites to connect youth to sexual health services. Sex Res Social Policy 2011;8:38e49. [13] Dolcini MM, Harper GW, Boyer CB, et al. Project ORE: A friendship-based intervention to prevent HIV/STI in urban African American adolescent females. Health Educ Behav 2010;37:115e32. [14] Stanton BF, Li X, Ricardo I, et al. A randomized, controlled effectiveness trial of an AIDS prevention program for low-income African-American youths. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med 1996;150:363. [15] Glasgow RE, Vinson C, Chambers D, et al. National Institutes of Health approaches to dissemination and implementation science: Current and future directions. Am J Public Health 2012;102:1274e81. [16] Kandel DB. Homophily, selection, and socialization in adolescent friendships. Am J Sociol 1978;84:427e36. [17] Cruz JE, Emery RE, Turkheimer E. Peer network drinking predicts increased alcohol use from adolescence to early adulthood after controlling for genetic and shared environmental selection. Dev Psychol 2012;48:1390e402.
