A Longitudinal Examination of the Moderating Influence of Peer and Parental Socialization on Alcohol-Related Social Media Self-Effects Among Late Adolescents

ABSTRACT

This study is the first to empirically and longitudinally demonstrate that alcohol-related social media self-effects may occur via attitudes, and that the strength of this association is dependent on peers and parents. A 2-wave panel study with a 1-year interval (N = 1006) among late adolescents (age 16–20 at baseline) showed that especially individuals whose peers and parents engaged in alcohol-positive socialization behaviors, held more positive alcohol-related attitudes one year later when they shared alcohol-related self-presentations on social networking sites (SNS). The strength of the alcohol-related social media self-effect was dampened when peers and parents engaged in more negative alcohol-related socialization behaviors. Overall, these results do not only provide support for the idea that some individuals can affect themselves through displaying certain content on SNS, they also suggest that peers and parents continue to play a socializing role, even when adolescents transition into emerging adulthood.