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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Disposition-Content Congruency in Adolescents’ Alcohol-Related Social Media (Self-) Effects: The Role of the Five-Factor Model

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Objective: Accumulating evidence indicates that social networking sites play an increasingly important role in young people’s drinking behavior. The present study adds to this research by assessing the conditionality of the relationships between exposure to and self-sharing of alcohol-related content on social media and adolescents’ drinking behavior. Specifically, the moderating role of the five-factor model of personality is determined. Method: A cross-sectional survey study was conducted among 866 mid-adolescents (Msubsample = 14.85 years, SD = 0.71, 57.5% girls). Polynomial regression analysis with response surface modeling was used to test the interactions. Results: Exposure, but not self-sharing, was directly associated with more alcohol consumption. However, it appeared that the act of sharing was more important than the frequency of sharing. Next, the relationship between exposure and consumption was not found to be moderated by personality. In contrast, there were significant linear and nonlinear interactions between self-sharing and all five personality traits. Individuals who are predisposed to engage in more alcohol consumption experience a stronger association between self-sharing and their drinking behavior. Conclusions: Social media can play a role in adolescents’ drinking behavior, but this role is partially dependent on temperamental predispositions. ispartof: Journal Of Studies On Alcohol And Drugs vol:80 issue:6 pages:631-640 ispartof: location:United States status: published