Exposure to Alcohol Content on Social Media Influences Young Adult Desire to Drink

New research from Rutgers Health and Harvard University found that young adults viewing social media posts from influencers involving alcohol were more likely to desire participation in drinking.¹ These results may be useful in assessing alcohol and substance use in younger adults, along with the impact of social media use on mental health.²

Lead investigator of the study, Jon-Patrick Allem, PhD, noted in an exclusive statement to Psychiatric Times that “clinicians should be aware of the role social media plays in shaping alcohol-related attitudes and behaviors among young people. Those seeking to prevent or delay alcohol use should incorporate discussions about how online content can influence offline attitudes and behaviors.”

“These conversations can address perceived norms, media literacy, and the potential consequences of alcohol use. Although young people are drinking less than previous generations, the online environment may not reflect this trend, potentially distorting perceptions of what is typical, rewarding, or enjoyable,” Allem added.

Participants in the study were young adults aged 18 to 24 who were randomly assigned 2 different social media feeds. The study included 2000 individuals, mean age of 21.2 years and 47.2% female. Each participant watched 20 short video posts from lifestyle influencers, with the feeds designed to represent a typical scroll session on a social media app like Instagram. One group was assigned a feed which included visible alcohol consumption or pro-alcohol imagery in each post, while the other group was shown a feed of similarly matched videos that did not include alcohol.

Participants who viewed content containing alcohol were 73% more likely to report increased desire to drink immediately after viewing the videos, compared with the group who viewed content which did not include alcohol (P < 0.001). Additionally, participants who rated the influencers whose posts they viewed as trustworthy, honest, and knowledgeable were over 5 times more likely to report a higher desire to drink after viewing content with alcohol (P = 0.004). Associations were also noted between prior alcohol use and desire to drink, with participants who reported alcohol use in the past 30 days (P < 0.001) and binge drinking in the past 30 days (P = 0.003) showing increased desire.

Researchers noted that the study did not address whether the increased desire translates into actual drinking behaviors or if repeated exposure to this type of content over time changes behavior. Future avenues for research include whether this association with increased desire differs with the source of content involving alcohol, like from brand advertising or posts from peers.

Allem highlighted that the “study adds experimental evidence to a debate over the role social media plays in the lives of young people. The field is stuck at the level of screen time. In other words, the field has been stuck on how much time a young person spends on social media, and is ignoring what content they consume.”

References

1. Donaldson SI, Russel AM, Allem J. Exposure to alcohol-related social media content and desire to drink among young adults. JAMA Pediatr. 2026.

2. Hendriks H, Wilmsen D, van Dalen W, et al. Picture me drinking: alcohol-related posts by Instagram influencers popular among adolescents and young adults. Front Psychol. 2020;10:2991.