Adolescent Misperceptions of Peer Cannabis Posts on Social Media and Cannabis Willingness and Use

Social media behaviors may play an important role in the development of cannabis attitudes and behaviors, given the large amount of time adolescents spend on social media. Considering the importance of social interactions during adolescence, perceptions of peer cannabis-related posting may serve as a risk factor for adolescent cannabis use. This study compared perceived friend, typical person, and an adolescent’s own posting of cannabis-related content to social media, and examined how these perceptions were prospectively associated with cannabis willingness and use. This longitudinal study included 435 adolescents in 11th and 12th grade (M age=16.91, 60% female sex assigned at birth, 76% White, 13% Latine) who completed measures of cannabis-related social media posts, perceived peer cannabis use, cannabis willingness, and cannabis use at two time points, 3 months apart. Consistent with the Focus Theory of Normative Conduct, adolescents significantly overestimated how often their friends (28.7%) and the typical person their age (58.8%) posted cannabis content compared to how often they posted cannabis content (8.0%) on social media. Self, but not perceived peer, cannabis-related content posting predicted greater willingness to use cannabis, even after controlling for multiple social media behaviors and offline peer influence. The only significant prospective predictors of cannabis use were prior cannabis willingness and use. Given the results from the present study, prevention efforts may benefit from identifying adolescents who post cannabis content online as they are most likely to be willing to use cannabis, and implementing strategies that address misperceptions of peer cannabis posting behaviors.