Disentangling Between-Person Level From Within-Person Level Relationships: How Sharing Alcohol References on Facebook and Alcohol Use Are Associated Over Time

ABSTRACT A growing body of research supports that publicly displayed alcohol references on social media are positively associated with alcohol use among college students. However, unaddressed questions remain, particularly what types of alcohol references (i.e., alcohol use vs. intoxication) have such influence, and whether the association between sharing alcohol references on social media and drinking behavior is a within-person effect, or rather reflects group differences. The current study (N = 338) used secondary data analysis of a four-wave longitudinal dataset collected as part of a larger project, which evaluated college students’ Facebook profiles and their alcohol use across their college experience. Using a random intercept cross-lagged panel analysis, we found empirical support for a positive relationship between sharing alcohol references and alcohol use at between-person level rather than the within-person level. Moreover, there was a negative relationship between sharing intoxication alcohol references on Facebook and alcohol use at the within-person level. This means that we find more support for the idea that the association between sharing alcohol references on social media and drinking behavior reflects group differences, rather than true self-effect of social media use.