Social media and college student risk behaviors: A mini-review

- Risk-behavior related social media posts are linked to negative outcomes.
- Alcohol marketing uses social media to target students, with negative outcomes.
- Social media research poses challenges; a more unified approach is warranted.
- Significant gaps exist in research on social media and health-risk behaviors.
- Prevention and intervention efforts utilizing social media are promising.

Use of social media use is widespread and frequent among college students. Posting photos and text related to risk behaviors (e.g., problematic alcohol use, illicit drug use) on social media websites is common and has been linked to personal substance use and negative outcomes. This mini-review summarizes current findings related to associations between college students' social media use and engagement in risk behaviors. Conducting research on social media poses unique challenges for researchers; these challenges are reviewed and their impact on the state of the current literature discussed. Finally, implications for prevention and intervention efforts are discussed as well as recommendations regarding future research in the area of social media and college student risk behaviors.