Need one more reason to lurk on your teenager’s Facebook page? It may tell you if he or she has a problem with alcohol. Researchers at the University of Washington and Seattle Children’s Research Institute reported in the October 3 online Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine the results of a survey that examined associations between displayed alcohol use and intoxication/problem drinking (I/PD) references on Facebook and self-reported problem drinking.
The study included undergraduate students at two state universities who had public Facebook profiles. The researchers found that displayed references to I/PD were positively associated with scores suggesting problem drinking as well as alcohol-related injury, and said their results suggest that clinical criteria for problem drinking can be applied to Facebook alcohol references.
To read about how early-life adversity and one particular gene variation can predispose teens to hazardous drinking, see Psychiatric News at http://pn.psychiatryonline.org/content/46/7/16.1.full.
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