Exploration of Cannabis Use with Excessive Social Media Use Among U.S. College Students

TL;DR

This study found that U.S. college students who use cannabis are more likely to excessively use social media, especially those with higher cannabis use risk.

Contribution

The study is the first to explore the association between cannabis use risk and excessive social media use among college students.

Findings

Current cannabis users had 22% higher odds of excessive social media use compared to non-users.

Students with high cannabis use risk had 82% higher odds of excessive social media use.

Moderate cannabis use risk was also linked to increased odds of excessive social media use.

Abstract

Excessive social media use (ESMU) may negatively impact college students. Less is known about whether cannabis use may influence ESMU. This study assessed the association between current cannabis use and ESMU in addition to cannabis use risk and ESMU among U.S. college students. An analysis of the 2022–2023 American College Health Association’s National College Health Assessment dataset including 65,052 college students aged 18–24-years old was performed. Unadjusted and adjusted logistic regression models were analyzed. In total, 23.2% of college students reported current cannabis use within the past 30 days. The unadjusted and adjusted logistic model results indicated that college students reporting current cannabis use were at increased odds of reporting ESMU compared to college students not reporting current cannabis use (OR = 1.22, 95% CI = 1.16–1.28; AOR = 1.27, 95% CI = 1.20–1.34, respectively). Furthermore, unadjusted and adjusted logistic regression results demonstrated that college students with moderate cannabis use risk (OR = 1.21, 95% CI = 1.12–1.30; AOR = 1.21, 95% CI = 1.12–1.30) or high cannabis use risk (OR = 1.78, 95% CI = 1.50–2.11; AOR = 1.82, 95% CI = 1.53–2.16) were at increased odds of reporting ESMU compared to college students with low cannabis use risk. U.S. college students who currently use cannabis, especially those exhibiting a moderate or high cannabis use risk, are at an increased odds of excessively using social media sites.