Research by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University suggests that the use of social media by teenagers increases their substance abuse. The report, based on findings from the National Survey of American Attitudes on Substance Abuse also concluded that on a typical day, more than half of the teens using social media is exposed to pictures of peers getting drunk, passed out or using drugs on these sites.
The survey data was compiled from over 2000 telephone and internet surveys of American teenagers and more than 500 parents. Concerning social media the most striking conclusions were:
• Seventy percent of the respondents reported spending time on a social networking site in a typical day
• Compared to teens who do not spend time on a social networking site in a typical day, teens who do are: Three times likelier to have used alcohol
• 51 percent of the respondents who spend time on a social networking site in a typical day have seen pictures of teens getting drunk, passed out or using drugs on these sites
• 14 percent of the respondents who spend no time on a social networking site in a typical day have seen such images on social networking sites.
• Compared to teens who have never seen pictures of kids getting drunk, passed out or using drugs on social networking sites, teens who have seen such pictures are three times likelier to have used alcohol