Associations between Interpersonal Communication, Perceived Norms, and E-Cigarette Use: The Moderating Role of Social Network Size.

Background: Prior studies have found that e-cigarette-related interpersonal communication and perceived norms are associated with young adults' e-cigarette use. However, it is unclear whether social network size moderates these relationships. This study examined the relationship between interpersonal discussions, perceived norms, and e-cigarette use outcomes (i.

Measuring what happens when bystanders help in drinking situations: The bystanders to alcohol risk scales-positive and negative consequences.

Objective: Understanding the consequences that occur when bystanders intervene to address problematic alcohol use in others is of utmost importance because the consequences that bystanders experience can influence their behavior in future situations. Consequences are defined as the effects of attempting to help another person and may be positive and/or negative. Given the dearth of measurement scales for alcohol-related bystander intervention, the present study aimed to develop two valid and reliable measures of consequences following alcohol-related bystander intervention: one assessing positive consequences and one assessing negative consequences.

Social Achievement Goals and Alcohol Use Outcomes in a Network of College Students.

Background: Social achievement goals are individuals' orientations toward attaining competence in social situations. Social achievement goals have been linked to outcomes such as belongingness, loneliness, and bullying perpetration among college students. Given that college students consume alcohol for social reasons, it is possible that a person's orientation toward social competence could be related to their drinking.

Bystander assessments for hazardous alcohol use: Qualitative methods for item development informed by bystander theory.

: Dissemination of methods for developing psychometric instruments is essential for the production of high-quality research. This article describes a multistep process used to conduct the qualitative phase in the development of a battery of measures related to bystander behavior for hazardous alcohol use among young adults. : Qualitative methods were used to inform the content and wording of developed items to be relevant to young adults' lived experiences.

College Student Social Network Characteristics and Alcohol Use: Differences (and Similarities) Based on Sexual Identity and Attraction.

Objective: Sexual minority college students have higher alcohol use and alcohol-related consequences than heterosexual students. Peers are salient determinants of young adult drinking, and examining social network characteristics is useful for understanding peer influence. This study used social network methods to understand network characteristics, alcohol use (i.

Interpersonal communication and perceived norms as social influence mechanisms of e-cigarette use among adults: a systematic review.

Given the increasing popularity of e-cigarette use among adults and the ongoing debate about the benefits and the potential adverse health risks associated with e-cigarette use, it is critical to identify the correlates of e-cigarette use. Prior research has found associations between interpersonal communication, perceived norms, and adults' e-cigarette use, but the evidence has yet to be summarized and synthesized. This paper reviewed empirical studies examining the relationship between interpersonal communication, perceived norms, and e-cigarette use among adults.

A Bluetooth-Based Smartphone App for Detecting Peer Proximity: Protocol for Evaluating Functionality and Validity.

Background: While ecological momentary assessment (EMA) is commonly used to study social contexts and social influence in the real world, EMA almost exclusively relies on participant self-report of present circumstances, including the proximity to influential peers. There is the potential for developing a proximity sensing approach that uses small Bluetooth beacons and smartphone-based detection and data collection to collect information about interactions between individuals passively in real time.

Objective: This paper aims to describe the methods for evaluating the functionality and validity of a Bluetooth-based beacon and a smartphone app to identify when ≥2 individuals are physically proximal.

Associations between frequency of exposure to peer-generated alcohol-related posts and alcohol use within a social network of college students.

Peer alcohol use, commonly assessed via perceptions of how many drinks peers consume, is a robust predictor of college drinking. These perceptions are formed by in-person exposure to peer drinking but also may be affected by seeing alcohol-related content (ARC) shared on peer social media accounts. Most research assesses exposure by asking about the frequency of ARC sharing by a whole friend group, potentially missing influences from specific friends.

Dynamic social network analysis of a brief alcohol intervention trial in heavy-drinking college students shows spillover effects.

Background: Heavy-drinking college students tend to have close social networks, and there is theoretical and empirical support for the idea that behavior change can spread through those networks via close ties. The objective of this research was to determine whether intervention-induced behavior change in a subset of heavy drinkers in a sociometric (whole) college class-year social network is transmitted to other heavy drinkers in the network, resulting in reduced behavioral risk and change in network ties.

Methods: We conducted a controlled trial in which most of a first-year college class (N = 1236; 56.

Measuring Exposure to the Hazardous Drinking of Others and Perceived Opportunity to Intervene as a Bystander.

Objective: Excessive alcohol use is very prevalent among young adults, and consequences of drinking are often observed by witnesses. Understanding the circumstances under which witnesses of risky alcohol use help others and whether they perceive these circumstances as an opportunity to engage in bystander intervention are important, but valid measures of these constructs are needed. The current study is a psychometric evaluation of the Exposure to Hazardous Drinking in Others (EHDO) scale and a single-item indicator of Perceived Alcohol-Related Bystander Opportunity (PARBO).

Social Network Composition, Relationship Type, and Alcohol Use Among Young Adults Not in Four-Year College.

: The drinking of social network members has been consistently associated with personal drinking. However, less attention has been paid to emerging adult populations outside of four-year college students and to potential moderators of this relationship. In a sample of emerging adults who never attended four-year college, this research examined: 1) the compositional characteristics of the social networks, 2) the association between the drinking of network members and personal drinking, and 3) how the association between network and personal drinking was moderated by relationship type (e.

Changes in College Student Anxiety and Depression From Pre- to During-COVID-19: Perceived Stress, Academic Challenges, Loneliness, and Positive Perceptions.

The COVID-19 pandemic is a major stressor that has negatively impacted global mental health. Many U.S.

Education-based stigma and discrimination among young adults not in 4-year college.

Background: Lower levels of education are strongly associated with negative health outcomes. The current study examined the degree to which those without a history of 4-year college attendance experience social stigmatization of their educational status and if these experiences are associated with mental health symptoms.

Methods: Data was obtained from 488 emerging adults who never attended 4-year college using Qualtrics Panels.

Associations between social network characteristics and alcohol use alone or in combination with cannabis use in first-year college students.

Objective: Simultaneous use of alcohol and cannabis is common among young adults, but little research has examined social ties and their relation to simultaneous use. This study investigated the social network characteristics of college students at two time points in the first year of college. Participants were categorized into those who used alcohol and cannabis, such that their effects overlap (simultaneous users), those who used both substances without overlapping effects (concurrent users), and those who used alcohol only.

Promotion by Others through Social Networks.

Although self-promotion may be the most direct way people self-present, it carries social costs. We propose a novel phenomenon-promotion by others-wherein social networks may afford similar advantages with fewer costs. We utilized egocentric network analysis to examine relationships between social connections and perceived promoter potential (i.

Do misperceptions of peer drinking influence personal drinking behavior? Results from a complete social network of first-year college students.

This study considered the influence of misperceptions of typical versus self-identified important peers' heavy drinking on personal heavy drinking intentions and frequency utilizing data from a complete social network of college students. The study sample included data from 1,313 students (44% male, 57% White, 15% Hispanic/Latinx) collected during the fall and spring semesters of their freshman year. Students provided perceived heavy drinking frequency for a typical student peer and up to 10 identified important peers.

U.S. College Students' Social Network Characteristics and Perceived Social Exclusion: A Comparison Between Drinkers and Nondrinkers Based on Past-Month Alcohol Use.

Objective: There is a general perception on college campuses that alcohol use is normative. However, nondrinking students account for 40% of the U.S.

Enrollment and assessment of a first-year college class social network for a controlled trial of the indirect effect of a brief motivational intervention.

Unlabelled: Heavy drinking and its consequences among college students represent a serious public health problem, and peer social networks are a robust predictor of drinking-related risk behaviors. In a recent trial, we administered a Brief Motivational Intervention (BMI) to a small number of first-year college students to assess the indirect effects of the intervention on peers not receiving the intervention.

Objectives: To present the research design, describe the methods used to successfully enroll a high proportion of a first-year college class network, and document participant characteristics.

Relationships between social network characteristics, alcohol use, and alcohol-related consequences in a large network of first-year college students: How do peer drinking norms fit in?

A burgeoning area of research is using social network analysis to investigate college students' substance use behaviors. However, little research has incorporated students' perceived peer drinking norms into these analyses. The present study investigated the association between social network characteristics, alcohol use, and alcohol-related consequences among first-year college students ( = 1,342; 81% of the first-year class) at one university.

Initiation of vaporizing cannabis: Individual and social network predictors in a longitudinal study of young adults.

Background: A trend has recently emerged of individuals using electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) or similar devices to vaporize cannabis, either in the form of high-potency THC concentrates or cannabis plant material. Peer use is central to the adoption of substance use behaviors in young adulthood, but little is known about peer influence for initiating cannabis vaping.

Methods: A longitudinal investigation of first-year college students (N = 1313) using social network methods was conducted to determine the prevalence of vaping cannabis, differences in networks between individuals who initiate vaping cannabis, and predictors of initiation of vaping cannabis across two time points.

Resistance to peer influence moderates the relationship between perceived (but not actual) peer norms and binge drinking in a college student social network.

Introduction: Adolescent and young adult binge drinking is strongly associated with perceived social norms and the drinking behavior that occurs within peer networks. The extent to which an individual is influenced by the behavior of others may depend upon that individual's resistance to peer influence (RPI).

Methods: Students in their first semester of college (N=1323; 54.