# Influences Of In-Person Social Networks, Digital Social Networks And Neighborhoods On Adolescent Alcohol Consumption

> **NIH NIH K01** · COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES · 2021 · $180,652

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
This Mentored Research Scientist Development Award (K01) will provide support for Dr. Christopher Morrison
to develop the skills necessary to become an independent investigator examining environmental prevention
strategies to reduce adolescent alcohol consumption and alcohol-related harms. Alcohol consumption by
adolescents under 21 is an important public health problem because alcohol contributes to over 4,300
adolescent deaths every year and to increased risks for alcohol use disorders and other problems in later life.
An integrated program of coursework, mentorship and research will allow Dr. Morrison to accomplish three
training objectives: developing comprehensive expertise 1) in theory, data collection, and statistical analysis for
social networks; 2) in research methods and statistical analysis for longitudinal and geographically referenced
survey data, and 3) conducting research to assess exposure to social media as a determinant of alcohol
consumption among adolescents. The research program comprises two complementary studies. The first is an
innovative use of data from Waves I to IV of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add
Health), an ongoing longitudinal study of a school-based sample who were adolescents in 1994/95.
Participants' alcohol consumption will be related to their friends' alcohol consumption, the characteristics and
structures of their social networks, and characteristics of the neighborhoods in which they live (e.g. social
disorganization, alcohol outlet density). The second study uses data from Healthy Communities for Teens
(HCT), an ongoing study of 261 adolescents aged 14-16 years (R01-HD078415; PI: Byrnes, H) of
neighborhood exposures and alcohol consumption. A follow-up data collection will assess participants'
engagement with digital social media, their exposure to alcohol through digital social media, and the structure
of their digital social networks. Study One, using Add Health data, will address two Specific Aims: 1) to build a
multiscale and dynamic model of adolescents' alcohol consumption based on their location within a social
network, the structure of the network, and other members' attitudes and behaviors towards alcohol, and 2) to
assess interrelationships between social networks, neighborhood conditions, and alcohol consumption during
adolescence, and the effects on alcohol consumption into young adulthood. Study Two, using HCT data, will
address Aim 3) to test the differential effects of exposure to alcohol through in-person social networks and
digital social networks on adolescent alcohol consumption. The short-term objective of the research is to
identify the people through whom, the places where, and the in-person vs. digital platforms through which
social networks most substantially influence adolescents' alcohol consumption. The overall career
development program will provide critical support for Dr. Morrison to progress to independent scientist,
conducti...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10242835
- **Project number:** 5K01AA026327-04
- **Recipient organization:** COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES
- **Principal Investigator:** Christopher Neil Morrison
- **Activity code:** K01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $180,652
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-09-01 → 2023-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10242835

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10242835, Influences Of In-Person Social Networks, Digital Social Networks And Neighborhoods On Adolescent Alcohol Consumption (5K01AA026327-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10242835. Licensed CC0.

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