Study shows drunk photo posters are at higher risk for alcoholism

By Angel Feliciano, News Correspondent

In a generation where nearly everyone’s personal information is readily available, it is easy for an individual to share just about anything in his or her life through social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter – so much so that researchers can now detect through someone’s profile if an individual is likely to have a drinking problem through status and photo updates.

College students who post photos of themselves drinking are more likely to become alcoholics than those who do not, according to a study published in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.

Dr. Megan A. Moreno, a pediatric and adolescent medicine doctor who is also an assistant professor at University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health who conducted the study, wanted to figure out if there was any link between displayed alcohol use on social networking sites and self-reported drinking problems on a clinical scale, according to the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, which was published online Oct. 3.

Natalia Alejandra, a freshman architecture major said she does not make her Facebook profile public because she’s nervous that potential employers will see photos of her drinking.

“If I have drunk pictures of myself, that does not necessarily define who I am, I was only merely having fun,” she said. “Just because I’m holding a champagne glass or a cup that’s got alcohol in it, that just means I’m having a good time. I know my limits – and myself – and I believe I don’t have a drinking problem.”

Moreno and other researchers from University of Wisconsin at Madison, University of Seattle and Seattle Research Institute identified 307 Facebook profiles of college students drinking. They contacted these students and asked them if they would be willing to take an online survey. Of those students, 224 participants took the online survey called the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) scale as a way to measure drinking problems.

Moreno and her colleagues then took the students’ survey scores and compared them to their Facebook profiles. They found that students who had mentioned they had been very drunk online were at risk for having drinking problems, Rochman’s article said.

Participants in this study consisted of undergraduate students at University of Wisconsin at Madison and University of Washington between 18 and 20-years-old whose Facebook profiles are public. The profiles were put into one of three categories: those with no alcohol references on their pages, some references to alcohol but no intoxication and potential “problem drinkers.” Research found that potential problem drinkers were more likely to report injury in the survey as a result of alcohol.

James Scorzelli, a Northeastern psychology professor who teaches a course in substance abuse, said he thinks the results of the study make sense.

“Kids try to model themselves after people they see. Most people they admire drink alcohol. If your model is someone who drinks, then you probably would as well,” he said. “You want to feel like you’re on top of the world.”

Bonnie Rochman of Time magazine reported Moreno’s findings said students received a “score” based on their reported patterns of drinking and potential harm. If an individual scored an eight or above on the AUDIT scale test, they are likely to be at risk for having a drinking problem. Rochman’s article also said 35 percent of the students surveyed scored high enough to be named at risk.

Moreno said in an interview with Health Day magazine that when she first started the study, she wanted to raise awareness about what pictures of kids drinking on the Internet can really mean.

“My main hope is that this study would start a conversation, empowering people who are actually friends and peers with one another on these sorts of sites to take note of what people say about themselves, and to check in on their friends when they see something along these lines that concern them,” Moreno told Health Day.

Ryan Punzalan, a middler journalism major, said he shares the same views as Alejandra.

“If my friends post obnoxious pictures of me drinking, I untag myself,” he said. “My Facebook is not public. I drink mostly because I like the taste of alcohol [and] to have a good time socially – not to get wasted.”

On the other hand, Carmen Migdal Sanders, a freshman communications major from Boston University said she is very comfortable with sharing her pictures online, including pictures of herself drinking.

“I used to ‘untag’ drunk pictures of myself back in high school primarily because I was afraid my teachers would see it, but now I’m in college, I don’t care as much because my parents know that I drink a lot, and they’ve been very open to that,” she said. “I have nothing to hide. Unless it’s a totally obscene picture of myself, like me throwing up then I untag myself.”