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Social Network Factors and Addictive Behaviors Among College Students

  • Addiction and College Students (D Foster, Section Editor)
  • Published:
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Abstract

Purpose of the Review

The purpose of this review was to provide an overview of studies within the past 5 years examining the impact of social network factors on addictive behaviors among college students, to discuss gaps, limitations, and controversies in the field, and to summarize with a discussion of future directions and implications for interventions.

Recent Findings

A review of 13 studies indicated that greater network exposure, centrality, reciprocated ties, and more tightly interconnected networks were associated with greater alcohol use and other addictive behaviors among college students.

Summary

Greater research is needed that expands beyond alcohol use to other addictive behaviors among college students. Additionally, more studies are needed that longitudinally study the impact of changes in social networks on addictive behaviors and vice versa, as well as studies examining sociocentric (whole) networks. Social network approaches offer innovative perspectives in understanding social influences on addictive behaviors and novel intervention strategies for potentially reducing addictive behaviors among college students.

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Papers of particular interest, published recently, have been highlighted as: •• Of major importance

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Houston, 126 Heyne Bldg, Houston, TX, 77204-5022, USA

    Dipali Venkataraman Rinker, Heather Krieger & Clayton Neighbors

Authors
  1. Dipali Venkataraman Rinker
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  2. Heather Krieger
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  3. Clayton Neighbors
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Correspondence to Dipali Venkataraman Rinker.

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Conflict of Interest

Ms. Heather Krieger reports grants from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (# F31AA024377) during the conduct of the study. Dr. Dipali Venkataraman Rinker and Dr. Clayton Neighbors report grants from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (# R01AA014576) during the conduct of the study.

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This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Addiction and College Students

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Rinker, D.V., Krieger, H. & Neighbors, C. Social Network Factors and Addictive Behaviors Among College Students. Curr Addict Rep 3, 356–367 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40429-016-0126-7

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