University culture in the United States is often permeated by notions which encourage substance use experimentation and risky behavior. As adolescents enter adulthood, often as freshman undergraduate students, many initiate regular consumptions of alcohol in dangerous forms. Additionally, cannabis consumption continues to increase across university campuses, prompting research into how use of the substance may affect the health and well-being of students. While many studies have examined alcohol and cannabis use in this student demographic, few have documented the interactions that social influences may have on these behaviors. This study aims to investigate links between students’ social networks and their use of alcohol and cannabis.
The study’s sample was composed of 1,294 incoming first-year students at a large, private undergraduate institution in the northeastern United States. Prior to the beginning of the autumn semester, participants volunteered to have their names listed in a social network survey in which other incoming students could link their names, thus creating the study’s social network component. Participants later completed two surveys: the first occurred six weeks into the autumn semester and the second occurred six weeks into the spring semester. The following measures were assessed: demographics, alcohol use, cannabis use, alcohol-cannabis co-use, social network survey data, network alcohol use, and network cannabis use. Past-month use of alcohol or cannabis with a named social network member categorized the relationship as “alcohol buddies” or “cannabis buddies”. The data was analyzed using multinomial logistic multilevel model and logistic multilevel models.
Results of the analysis found co-users of alcohol and cannabis (both simultaneously and concurrently) had significantly elevated percentages of drinking buddies as compared to students who used alcohol only. Additionally, as the proportion of named network members who use alcohol or cannabis increased for an individual, the overall odds of participating in simultaneous use increased.
Takeaway: the social networks of students may impact how they use alcohol and/or cannabis. When designing interventions to treat at-risk students, social network implications must be considered when seeking to provide optimal outcomes.