Teenagers and young adults who deliberately hurt themselves are at markedly increased risk of...
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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