# Development and Pilot of a Parent Based Intervention for Reducing High-risk Social Networking Site Cognitions, Alcohol Use, and Negative Consequences Among Adolescents

> **NIH NIH R34** · UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS HLTH SCI CTR · 2020 · $209,875

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
The prevalence of underage alcohol use continues to be a public health concern. Numerous studies have
reported associations between teen drinking tendencies and parental attitudes and beliefs, parental awareness
of teen drinking, parental monitoring and the quality of the parent–teen relationship and communication. The
extensive work in this area has resulted in parent-based intervention (PBI) efforts to prevent or reduce
adolescent alcohol use. Several independent studies have indicated that teens whose parents received a PBI
reported less alcohol use and fewer alcohol-related consequences. Despite these strengths, one major
limitation of PBI is that they do not currently take into account the large role that social networking sites (SNS)
use plays in adolescents' lives and in relation to their alcohol use. Most (90%) adolescents are on SNS, and
their Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter profiles include alcohol content. Thus, adolescents are making and
exposed to SNS alcohol displays and these displays are associated with high-risk drinking cognitions and
alcohol use. As such, we propose to develop and refine an interactive PBI designed to reduce high-risk SNS
cognitions (i.e. attitudes and norms), alcohol use, and negative consequences among adolescents. To achieve
study aims, we propose an iterative process of focus groups in order to develop and refine the interactive PBI
to be delivered in the pilot study with 1 and 6 month follow-up among 100 parent/teen dyads. The objective of
this R34 application is to establish feasibility and acceptability of the newly developed interactive PBI that
focuses on the role of SNS in adolescent alcohol use as well as to determine preliminary effect sizes for future
studies. Determining an efficacious way to reduce alcohol use and high-risk alcohol display cognitions affords
future research the opportunity to make use of social network-based interventions, thus the proposed research
has great potential to serve as a catalyst for future research.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9996432
- **Project number:** 5R34AA026332-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS HLTH SCI CTR
- **Principal Investigator:** Dana M. Litt
- **Activity code:** R34 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $209,875
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-08-15 → 2022-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9996432

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9996432, Development and Pilot of a Parent Based Intervention for Reducing High-risk Social Networking Site Cognitions, Alcohol Use, and Negative Consequences Among Adolescents (5R34AA026332-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9996432. Licensed CC0.

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