• HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
Wednesday, October 8, 2025
BIOENGINEER.ORG
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
No Result
View All Result
Bioengineer.org
No Result
View All Result
Home NEWS Science News Health

How Tweets may influence substance abuse in youth

Bioengineer by Bioengineer
April 21, 2020
in Health
Reading Time: 2 mins read
0
IMAGE
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedinShare on RedditShare on Telegram

IMAGE

Credit: Penn Nursing

PHILADELPHIA (April 21,2020) – Substance use by youth remains a significant public health concern. While social media provides youth the opportunity to discuss and display substance use-related beliefs and behaviors, little is known about how posting drug-related content, or viewing posted content influences the beliefs and behaviors of youth relative to substance use.

In a new study from the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing (Penn Nursing), researchers characterized the content of 23 million drug-related tweets by youths to identify their beliefs and behaviors related to drug use and better understand the potential mechanisms driving substance use behavior. They found that youths expressed pride, confidence, or boastfulness online about their drug-related behaviors, often indicating a craving or desire for drugs or the effects of drug use. Their tweets rarely covered the negative consequences or effects of substance use.

“Youths’ tweets about using drugs to cope with stress, grief and trauma may contribute to distorted perceptions of normative behavior and may encourage other youth adopt similar coping strategies in real life,” says lead-investigator Robin Stevens, PhD, MPH, Assistant Professor and Director of the Health Equity and Media Lab. “These findings indicate a critical need to leverage social media to understand youth experiences and attitudes related to drug use. An in-depth, real time understanding of youth attitudes, across diverse populations is critical for efforts to decrease substance abuse.”

The study also defined the frequency with which drugs are discussed by members of this population on Twitter, generated a list of words and hashtags to contribute to analytical lexicons for others interested in similar research, and identified themes indicative of the ways in which youth discuss their support for (or opposition to) substance use on social media.

###

The study’s findings have been published in an article, “Exploring Substance Use Tweets of Youth in the United States: Mixed Methods Study,” in the journal JMIR Public Health and Surveillance. Co-authors of the article include Bridgette M. Brawner, PhD, MDiv, of Penn Nursing; Elissa Kranzler, PhD, Salvatore Giorgi, Elizabeth Lazarus, Maramawit Abera, Sarah Huang, and Lyle Ungar, all of the University of Pennsylvania.

About the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing

The University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing is one of the world’s leading schools of nursing. For the fifth year in a row, it is ranked the #1 nursing school in the world by QS University and is consistently ranked highly in the U.S. News & World Report annual list of best graduate schools. Penn Nursing is currently ranked # 1 in funding from the National Institutes of Health, among other schools of nursing, for the third consecutive year. Penn Nursing prepares nurse scientists and nurse leaders to meet the health needs of a global society through innovation in research, education, and practice. Follow Penn Nursing on: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, & Instagram.

Media Contact
Ed Federico
[email protected]

Original Source

https://www.nursing.upenn.edu/live/news/1637-how-tweets-may-influence-substance-abuse-in-youth

Tags: AddictionHealth ProfessionalsMedicine/HealthPediatricsPublic HealthSocial/Behavioral Science
Share12Tweet8Share2ShareShareShare2

Related Posts

Sperm Sequencing Uncovers Widespread Male Germline Selection

October 8, 2025
blank

University of Houston Scientists Discover Rare Bacterium That ‘Plays Dead’ to Survive

October 8, 2025

Combination of Pain Relievers and Antidepressants Associated with Elevated Seizure Risk in Older Adults

October 8, 2025

Isha Jain Receives NIH Transformative Research Award for Advancing Vitamin Biology with Modern Science

October 8, 2025
Please login to join discussion

POPULAR NEWS

  • Sperm MicroRNAs: Crucial Mediators of Paternal Exercise Capacity Transmission

    1122 shares
    Share 448 Tweet 280
  • New Study Reveals the Science Behind Exercise and Weight Loss

    100 shares
    Share 40 Tweet 25
  • New Study Indicates Children’s Risk of Long COVID Could Double Following a Second Infection – The Lancet Infectious Diseases

    95 shares
    Share 38 Tweet 24
  • Ohio State Study Reveals Protein Quality Control Breakdown as Key Factor in Cancer Immunotherapy Failure

    79 shares
    Share 32 Tweet 20

About

We bring you the latest biotechnology news from best research centers and universities around the world. Check our website.

Follow us

Recent News

Sperm Sequencing Uncovers Widespread Male Germline Selection

University of Houston Scientists Discover Rare Bacterium That ‘Plays Dead’ to Survive

Mayo Clinic Scientists Identify ‘Traffic Controller’ Protein That Safeguards DNA and Offers New Target for Cancer Treatment

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 62 other subscribers
  • Contact Us

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Homepages
    • Home Page 1
    • Home Page 2
  • News
  • National
  • Business
  • Health
  • Lifestyle
  • Science

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.